She Will Be Loved
by January Lily
Summary: Harvard Law School graduate Jillian "JJ" Jacobs gave up everything and eventually became an SVU detective in New York City. All she ever wanted in life was to have a real family and for years work filled that need. But that just isn't enough anymore, especially after she meets A.D.A. Rafael Barba. Will she be loved?
1. Twenty-Five Acts I

**14x03: Twenty-Five Acts Pt. 1**

* * *

A young blonde NYPD detective absently tapped her ballpoint pen against a pad of paper as she stared at the computer screen in front of her. With her other hand, she fanned at her face. Despite being in the air conditioned station, she was still rather warm from having stepped outside for a few minutes. That had been a big mistake. 20 days in a row over 90 degrees in New York City was close to living in hell and the fact that there had been 16 murders over the 4th of July proved that. But those weren't the only things that factored into her decision. The fact that Captain Cragen had been cleared a month ago for duty and had yet to return to duty compounded the situation. Yes, living hell about summed things up.

Detective Jillian Jacobs, more affectionately known as JJ, worked for the Special Victims Unit of the NYPD. It was a far cry from where she had thought she be at this place in her life, but for the most part, the job was rewarding. Tiring, but rewarding. Sex crimes weren't the easiest or most enjoyable cases to work. In fact, they were typically downright grueling, but someone had to do them…and do them right. Otherwise, where was the justice in this cruel world?

From the desk across from hers, Sergeant John Munch reached over and placed his hand over hers. She looked up at him, her clear blue eyes showing confusion. He glanced at her over his glasses down at the pen in her hand. "I don't think the NYPD needs another scandal," he said wryly as she raised an eyebrow. "If you don't stop tapping that damn pen, murder might be my only option. And after all my years of experience, I know how to get away with it too."

The blonde softly smiled as he gave her a wink. Munch had been her partner since she had transferred to SVU. She had learned a lot from him and she trusted him with her life. He was like a father figure to her, more of a father to her than her own father ever had been. "Getting ornery with old age, Munch?" she teased her partner.

Munch caught JJ's gaze and then shrugged his shoulders, removing his hand from hers. "Maybe. Or it could be this damn heat. Who knows? But I wouldn't risk it if I were you, JJ."

JJ chuckled as she set her pen down and leaned back in her chair. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and groaned. She should have brought a hair tie, but she hadn't. Hoping that she had left one in her desk, she opened the drawers only to be disappointed. From behind her, Detective Amanda Rollins whistled. JJ turned around to see Amanda with a hair tie dangling from her index finger. "Thank god," JJ muttered as she clapped her hands for Amanda to toss her the hair tie. Amanda tossed it and JJ caught it and pulled her hair back. "You're my savior. You know that?"

Amanda smiled and walked back to her desk. JJ glanced across her desk to see Munch staring at her. "That hurts, JJ," he said putting his hand over his heart. "You said the same thing to me last week."

JJ rested her elbows on her desk and rested her head on her hands. With a smirk, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Yeah, I lied." Munch chuckled and shook his head. He then glanced over JJ's shoulder and rolled his eyes. JJ turned to see what caused Munch's reaction.

Acting Captain Steven Harris walked out of Cragen's office and into the squad room. Harris wasn't very well liked among the SVU detectives. He had them doing the unnecessary paperwork that Cragen often overlooked. After the recent scandal, they were supposed to play everything by the books. Books for which JJ didn't mind following. In fact, her background in law often proved to be somewhat of a moral compass. But there were still sometimes when those books got in the way of getting the victims the justice they deserved and _that_ wasn't something that sat well with her.

"Okay, folks, listen up!" Harris called before he cleared his throat. JJ glanced over at her partner who was leaning back in his chair like a grumpy old man. She then faced Harris as he continued. "Looks like we're stuck together a little longer."

"What? The captain was cleared a month ago," Amanda said, speaking up for the rest of them who sat at their desks with a look of confusion on their faces.

"Of criminal charges," Harris pointed out. "1 PP still hasn't declared him fit for duty."

"Of course they haven't," JJ scoffed before turning toward Munch. "Don't even think about it," she warned wagging her finger, knowing he was bound to come up with some conspiracy or another. But her warning was too late.

"What?" Munch groaned toward JJ before facing the others. "1 PP. Welcome to the puzzle palace."

Like usual, they ignore Munch's comments, something one learned to do within their first two weeks on the job. But Detective Olivia Benson asked, "But they did say he was coming back. Right?" JJ glanced at the female detective with the most seniority. She had always looked up to Olivia, even before JJ had joined SVU.

"Far as I know," Harris responded. His answer didn't really sit well with any of them. But he wasn't done shaking things up. "Meantime, I've been thinking some things over. I'd like to move some pieces around on the board."

Munch immediately shot back, "You can move me back to France."

"Hey!" JJ hissed, her blue eyes growing a little brighter, as she shot back. "You need to get away from me _that_ badly?"

"Well, you did lie to me," he said, referring to their conversation before Harris walked in. He then made a circle with his index fingers. "Circle of trust. Broken." JJ placed her hand over her heart and feigned heartache which made Amanda laugh, having witnessed the earlier exchange.

Harris just stared at them for a moment, like they were crazy before he continued. "I'm not entirely sure what is going on there, but I'm actually pairing you back up with your old partner."

JJ's eyes bugged-out as she turned to look at Detective Fin Tutuola, whose gobsmacked expression matched hers. Like Liv and Munch, Fin had worked at SVU for over a decade and was well-respected, but the move to partner Fin and Munch back up didn't make sense. Especially given the fact that JJ and Munch worked well together, as did Fin and Amanda. "Really?" Fin questioned.

"Captain, Fin and I have been kind of-" Amanda started.

Harris put a hand up to stop her. "Getting to that," he said. "Rollins, I'd like to pair you up with Benson, I sense you'll work well together." Amanda glanced over at Liv. Liv nodded her head acknowledging Amanda's glance, but again, this shake-up didn't seem to be going over very well.

Or at least not well with everybody, except Detective Nick Amaro. Judging from his expression, this really didn't come as a surprise to him. JJ found that rather odd, but she said nothing as Munch once again interjected his wry sense of humor, "You got two couples on the dance floor. What about Serpico and Jessica Fletcher's dance cards?"

"Murder She Wrote, really?" JJ scoffed glaring at Munch. "Really, Munch?"

Fin shifted his stance as he leaned against his desk and looked at JJ with a knowing grin. "Aw, c'mon, JJ, we all know what you be doing on your free time," Fin chuckled.

JJ rolled her eyes as Harris looked at her with a quizzical expression. "Not _all_ of us," JJ retorted before quickly changing the subject from her life outside of work and focusing on the task at hand. "So...I take it that you're partnering me with Amaro, then. I mean, seeing as we're the only two left."

"Yes...and...no," Harris answered. "You'll be partnered depending on the call. But I do want you both working swing, ready to assist or go solo if need be. That alright with you two?"

"All good with me," Nick said, finally adding his voice to the conversation.

Harris then looked at JJ. "Jacobs?" he asked.

"Yeah, whatever," JJ said, despite the fact that she didn't understand the shake-up. Things had worked out just fine before. Sure, there was trouble in paradise for Nick and Liv recently, but it wasn't anything they couldn't get through. Still, JJ wasn't going to go against orders. She would do as she was told.

Harris looked around the squad room and nodded his head. "Okay then," he said before he walked away. Everyone remained silent until Harris was out of earshot and in Cragen's office.

JJ leaned over her desk and whispered to Munch, "Did you know about this?"

"What do you think?" Munch asked looking down at the paperwork on his desk. He then glanced up at JJ, who was watching him intently. "No, I didn't. And before you ask, I didn't request it either."

"I didn't think you would request it," JJ said before she slightly smiled. "Fin's not as pretty as I am."

"I heard that," Fin said from his desk. "And he never complained about my looks the last time we were partnered up."

"You just never heard it," Munch muttered to himself which made JJ laugh.

Over her shoulder, JJ could see Nick and Liv talking near the coffeepot. Things looked tense. If JJ was a betting person, her money would be on those two as the reason for this new madness.

* * *

 _~*~Dun Dun~*~_

* * *

That night after work, JJ unlocked the door to her apartment and walked inside. She quickly relocked it and set the deadbolt before she leaned against the door. Home, sweet, home. JJ lived in a studio-style apartment. The only other room beside the one she was in was the bathroom. It wasn't that she couldn't afford a better place, although, that did factor into things. But honestly, it didn't really make sense for her to have a big empty place when she was the only one who went home to it.

For years, she had dedicated her life to her job and sometimes, it felt like she had nothing to show for it. She knew that it was the typical life of a cop, but she couldn't help but want more. Since she was little the thing she had wanted the most was a family. It was the one thing she never really had. Her mother died when she was young and her father was either never home or he shipped her off on relatives. No, JJ had never really known what it was like to have family who actually cared about you. That was part of the reason she _did_ love her job so much. The NYPD was like a family-they looked after their own.

JJ set her keys down on the counter before she walked over to the refrigerator. She opened it. Inside was a bottle of ketchup, a couple sticks of margarine, a mason jar of honey, and a bag of cheese. Nope, not much she could do with that. She closed the door and walked over to her small pantry. Inside the pantry was one lone package of Ramen noodles, a box of crackers, and baking supplies. With a sigh, she grabbed the package of Ramen and put a kettle of water on the stove before she pulled off her pants. That was one of the nice things about living alone. She could be pantless whenever she wanted.

Leaving her pants discarded on the kitchen floor, JJ walked into the living area of her apartment and turned on the TV. After surfing through the few channels she had, she landed on Adam Cain's television show. While she wasn't particularly fond of his show, the show she wanted to watch came on after his show and she didn't want to miss it. So, she settled for it and settled down on the small sofa, snuggling-up with the fuzzy blanket carelessly strown over the back.

The TV blared Adam Cain's voice: _And speaking of torture, is your local sex shop sold out of whips and handcuffs? Well, you can blame it on our next guest. Her runaway bestseller Twenty-Five Acts follows a woman's journey into a world of domination, and it's revolutionizing women's attitudes toward sex. Frankly, I'm just glad they want it at all. Now her book makes Fifty Shades look like a Disney story. She's hot, rich, kinky...I think I'm love. Ladies and gentlemen, Jocelyn Paley._

JJ rolled her eyes as she fumbled to reach for the TV remote. She quickly pressed the mute button. She had never read the book. She dealt with enough brutal sex stuff at work that she didn't need to put herself through more of that. Although, the writing thing she did get. Fin had been right about that. But she still kept her writing very close to her pocket. Not murder mysteries or sexual fantasy stories. No, she had to keep things light at home or she might never see the light again.

The tea kettle began to whistle, so she quickly got up and walked back to the stove and pulled it off the burner. While the kettle set for a minute, JJ grabbed the last clean bowl from the cupboard and dumped the Ramen in it before she poured the hot water into the bowl. As she waited for the noodles to cook, she glanced toward the TV to see Jocelyn Paley grinning from ear to ear. To think, a life somewhat like that could have been hers.

* * *

 _~*~Dun Dun~*~_

* * *

The next day at work, they all gathered around the television in the squad room. On the screen was the very interview JJ had muted the night before. Apparently, someone from Jocelyn's team had called 911. Liv and Amanda had taken the call and met with Jocelyn Paley. Jocelyn didn't think she would be able to claim rape because of her book, which made perfect sense, but it wasn't right. No means no.

"She's giving as good as she's getting," Nick pointed out.

JJ drummed her fingers against the table. "If her story is credible then it turned ugly later. So, just because of what happened on TV doesn't mean she asked for what happened later."

Nick looked at JJ rather pointedly. "You think I don't know that? You of all people should know as well as I do how _this_ is gonna look if this ends up in front of a jury. Court of public opinion."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying it sucks."

"Clarify something for me," Harris said, rubbing his brow. "She's not claiming rape, but she agreed to a rape kit?"

Liv sighed, "Reluctantly. She has anal fissures and a severe ligature mark on her neck." Liv made a motion around her neck and JJ absently rubbed at hers. She _knew_ that marks like those didn't come easily.

"She didn't press charges?" Fin asked in slight disbelief.

Amanda jumped in. She grabbed the copy of Jocelyn's book which sat on the middle of the table and handed it to Fin. "No, she's worried, you know, because of her book." Fin flipped through the pages with an arched eyebrow.

"Her prose is pretty florid," Munch started. He stopped for a moment and then continued. "Although I admire any author who can work in nipple clamps and Albinoni's Adagio in one sentence." Both flabbergasted, JJ and Fin looked at their Sergeant who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"You read this?" Fin asked holding Jocelyn's book up.

"Yeah-you read that?" JJ mimicked.

Munch rolled his eyes and responded, "The yentas at my mother's retirement home were passing it around and my mother's losing her sight, so I read it to her." He gave another shrug of his shoulders to which both Fin and JJ responded by shaking their heads.

It was Amanda that said what they all were thinking. "That is something I would _never_ do for my mother," Amanda laughed.

"Okay, this isn't a book club," Harris said bringing the team back to the subject at hand. "If she's not pressing charges, why are we wasting our time?"

The six detectives looked at each other with expressions that read _who's gonna tell him_? Without even thinking about it, JJ placed her finger on her nose like she had when she was a child. Amanda followed suit and even Fin joined it. Liv shook her head and took one for the team. "Captain, you're new to SVU. Victims sometimes take time to process. She said stop. He tightened the belt."

"He probably thought that, given her book, that he could get away with it," Amanda added.

"And there are definitely some rumblings about this guy," JJ continued pointing toward the TV screen. "He's forward with his female guests, especially the hot ones, and they're there for only a short time. It's a possibility that he's had dozens of pretty female interns, who come and go, that he may have crossed the line with."

"Hold on," Munch said holding his hand up. "Cain may be a ladies' man, but he's one of the good guys."

Fin then continued, "We've seen him at benefits. Police widows. Battered women. He never says no."

"You mean, he never _hears_ no," Liv said in finality. JJ pointed at Liv and nodded her head, fully backing her up. Amanda too gave a nod of approval.

'Okay, okay," Harris said settling the group down before he handed out their assignments. "Fin and Munch, pay Cain a friendly visit before charges before he lawyers up. Benson, Rollins, check and see if Jocelyn's had time to process."

"What about us?" Nick asked motioning between himself and JJ. Before Harris could answer, JJ snatched _Twenty-Five Acts_ from Fin's hands and slid it across the table to Nick. She smirked at him and he gave her an unamused expression. Harris nodded his head and Nick looked up at their acting captain in disbelief. "I'm reading the book?" he questioned.

"And following up on the rumors about Cain and his interns with JJ. If he did do what she says, he's done it before." With that, Harris walked away with Liv. Fin patted Munch's shoulder and the two of them headed for the door. That left Nick, Amanda, and JJ. JJ and Nick both stared down at the book before glancing at each other.

JJ gave Nick a quick wink before she pushed the book across the table at him, "You can start with the book. I insist."

"It seems a little more your speed," Nick said sliding the book across the table.

JJ slid the book back across the table at him. "Your skillset is much more suited for it."

Nick slid the book again but before he could say anything, Amanda slammed her hand down on the book. "How about I run down to the corner store and buy another copy while I wait for Liv. Or better yet, maybe you can get both get started on the rumors and I'll come back with signed copies for both of you."

JJ and Nick looked across the table at each other and then to Rollins. "Works for me," JJ said with a shrug before she got up and quickly walked away. Nick followed after her to his desk. "Aw, c'mon guys, I was kidding," Amanda groaned still holding the book.

When JJ sat down at her desk, she moved the mouse to her computer causing the black screen to brighten. She typed in a password and set to work when Nick called over to her. "JJ, you do realize we both have to read the book, right?" Nick asked.

She nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to see Amanda's reaction," JJ said with a smile glancing over her shoulder back at Amanda, who set the book down and stared over at Nick and JJ.

Nick smiled back and looked at Amanda. 'Yeah, me too."

"Figured. Besides, I'd much rather read _that_ in the privacy of my own apartment where I don't have everyone watching me for my reaction."

"True that."

* * *

 _~*~Dun Dun~*~_

* * *

The next morning, after a long night of _research_ , JJ found herself standing in line at Starbucks. While it wasn't one of her healthiest habits, she would admit that she was a coffee junkie. But hell, it could be worse. She could be addicted to heroin. In perspective, coffee didn't seem so bad. Since it was still sweltering outside, JJ ordered an iced vanilla latte and pulled out her debit card to pay.

The barista swiped JJ's card and then her brow furrowed. Definitely not a good sign. "I'll be right back, I need to get my manager," the young and stressed barista told JJ.

"Is there a problem with my card?" JJ asked quizzically, knowing full-well that there _shouldn't_ be any problems with her card. It had been years since she had run into any serious money issues. She wasn't living check to check like she was when she first started out.

But the barista shook her head. "There's something going on with the system."

"Great," JJ muttered, as she pulled her phone out to check the time. Harris hated it when they were late. Cragen was more or less forgiving to a certain point, as long as they did their work and they did it well. But Harris was always on them for everything these days.

The swamped supervisor came over and pressed a few buttons before swiping JJ's card. This time the supervisor looked rather worried. "Just give me a second, ma'am," the supervisor said before the crossed to the drive-thru register.

 _Ma'am_ , ma'am was something you called women over forty. JJ wasn't there...not yet. But she ignored the comment as she glanced over her shoulder at the growing line behind her where people were already beginning to grumble. She then turned to see the supervisor looking at the screen rather frantically. JJ overheard the words _restart the system_ as she drummed her fingers against the counter.

The system reboot didn't seem to do the trick. "You wouldn't happen to have any cash on hand, would you?" the barista asked handing JJ back her card.

JJ opened her somewhat over-sized purse to dig for some cash, which she rarely kept on her person. Having a credit and debit card was much more convenient. As her hand dug further into the bag, she accidentally knocked out the copy of Jocelyn Paley's _Twenty-Five Acts_ that she spent most of the night reading. "Shit," the blonde detective muttered, hoping that no one noticed. But she had no such luck.

As JJ bent down to pick up the book, a sharply dressed man bent over and picked it up for her. Holding onto it, he stood up and JJ took a good look at him. He was dressed in a crisply pressed button-up shirt, a snazzy tie, and suspenders. His suit coat hung over his other arm as he looked bemusedly at the book in his hands. He ran his fingers through the many, _many_ post-it notes that hung outside the pages of the book, which she had put them in there just in case something could be used as evidence."Your favorite parts?" he asked rather cockily.

"It's for work," JJ groaned, her face slightly pink. _That_ was clearly the wrong answer. The man raised an arched eyebrow at her and for once, JJ was at a loss for words. Although, in her defense, she really couldn't say _what_ her work involved...especially not to some random stranger in a Starbucks. So, JJ just held her hand out for the man to place the book. Thankfully, he said nothing more before he placed the book in her hand.

"Ma'am?" the barista asked rather timidly.

"Oh, right," JJ said turning toward the barista and digging through her bag again. She groaned as she rummaged through the bottom, only managing to find spare change that would hardly amount to anything. "Dammit," she muttered as she continued to dig, hoping that some dollar bills would magically show up. While behind her, the people in line began to complain a little louder.

JJ was about to tell the barista to cancel her order when the man behind her stepped up to the counter. "Brooke, just add her order to my usual," the man said holding a twenty dollar bill between his fingers.

"You don't have to do that," JJ groaned reaching out to stop him. She rested her hand on his arm, but the barista had already accepted his money. He looked down at her hand on his arm and then at her before she awkwardly withdrew her hand.

"I'm not doing it for you," the man said rather gruffly. "I want my coffee and I suspect the same of the people behind us." The barista gave the man his change, which he put neatly into his leather wallet. JJ stood there for a moment before the man roughly motioned for her to keep moving. She shook her head. She was never _this_ absent-minded. It must be an off morning. Most likely caused by the material she pored over last night. She stopped near the pick-up counter and awkwardly stood beside the man, who was busy checking his phone.

"I-uh-thank you," JJ stammered.

He responded without even looking up from his phone. "Like I said, it was because you were holding up the line."

She shifted rather uncomfortably. "Well, if we ever run into each other again…"

"You will owe me $4.45." The man said, his fingers furiously pressing buttons on his phone, which JJ assumed was him texting.

JJ gave a nod of her head, which he didn't see before she stood there with her arms folded across her chest and her foot tapping impatiently as she waited for her drink to finally be ready. The man beside her didn't even glance once her way, at least not that she could see. It seemed like forever when a new barista came to the counter with a drink that read _JJ_. She walked up to the counter to grab it before they even said her name.

Once the cold drink was in her hand, she opened the straw and stuck it in her drink before she turned around to walk away. She took a few steps before she stopped near the man, who was still looking at his phone. JJ cleared her throat and the man glanced up at her, with an almost annoyed expression on his face. "Yes?"

"Thank you again," JJ said, standing a little straighter. "I do appreciate the gesture."

The man looked at her for a moment and nodded his head before gaze dropped right back to his phone. JJ reasoned that whatever was happening was really important or she was annoying him. So, JJ nodded her head and then moved to walk away when she heard him say, "I hope your _research_ proves to be useful."

For a moment, JJ froze. When she realized he was referring to that damn book, she groaned and quickly walked away hoping that was the last time she would ever have to see that man again.

* * *

 _~*~Dun Dun ~*~_

* * *

When JJ walked into the 16th Precinct, she found most of the SVU detectives gathered around Amanda's computer. "Sorry, I'm late," JJ apologized as she walked to her desk and set her iced coffee down. She opened her bottom desk drawer dropped her purse in before she fished out her copy of _Twenty-Five Acts_. "Starbucks credit card machine fritzed and then there was this guy…"

"A guy?" Amanda asked curiously, leaning back in her chair and raising an eyebrow as JJ walked toward them carrying her iced coffee.

After a sip of coffee, JJ's nose crinkled in disgust. "Uh-no. Nothing like that. The guy was just an ass, that's all."

"Was he at least cute?"

"As much as I'm going to kick myself later for joining in this conversation...does that really matter?" Munch asked Amanda rather dryly.

"You should know better by now," Fin muttered to himself, clearly disappointed that Munch had decided to join the ladies' conversation.

"Depends," Amanda said with a shrug of her shoulders, answering Munch and ignoring Fin. She then turned back toward JJ. "So, was he? I mean, it has been awhile for you."

JJ rolled her eyes. "How about we forget about me and we focus on whatever's on your computer screen," JJ said pointing to the computer. "I'm guessing it's important since ya'll are gathered around it."

"Have a look."

Amanda clicked a button and security footage began to play on her screen. JJ sipped her coffee as the footage showed Jocelyn Paley stepping into the elevator. A few moments later, she was followed by Adam Cain and what happened after wasn't something that should happen to anyone. "You've got to be kidding me," JJ scoffed. "He did it again?"

"She came by my place last night after it happened," Liv said.

"Guys like this really piss me off," JJ groaned.

Amanda nodded her head. "Agreed. I mean look at him. He's pretty brazen. He had to have known that there were security cameras."

After having been silent this entire time, Nick finally spoke. "He also probably knows it's Act Nine of the book-elevator sex." The detectives working with him looked at Nick curiously, but he just shrugged. "I read the masterpiece last night."

"Me too," JJ said flashing her copy of the book.

Fin snatched JJ's book out of her hands and flipped through the pages. "Damn girl, how many notes did you take?" he said.

JJ chuckled. "What can I say, old habits die hard." The detectives then turned their attention back to the video.

Munch shifted uncomfortably as he stared hard at the computer screen. This wasn't something he could easily process. He thought he had known Adam Cain-at least enough to know that he _thought_ he was a good person. But he was a sergeant with SVU and it was his job to protect people like Jocelyn. "It doesn't look like she's enjoying it," he said.

"Doesn't look like she's resisting either," Fin stated.

"That's called tonic immobility, Fin," Amanda said glancing over her shoulder, clearly somewhat annoyed at Fin.

Liv then shared her knowledge with the group. "She was traumatized from the night before. He goes after her again. Now everybody knows fight or flight, but there's a third response. You freeze."

JJ nodded her head, completely agreeing with Liv. "She's right. Tonic immobility happens a lot more than you'd think."

"Good luck trying to sell that to a jury," Fin responded.

JJ arched an eyebrow at him. "It's been known to happen," she said, but fully aware of the point Fin was making. Many juries could take the person not fighting back or not fleeing as a sign that they _wanted_ it. That deep down there was a part of them that wanted this, a rape fantasy, they might call it. But JJ also knew that until one was put in that situation, it was hard to understand.

Captain Harris then walked into the squad room and stopped a few feet away from them with his arms folded across his chest. "Rollins knows her stuff," he said nodding at Amanda. "Jacobs too." He then nodded at JJ. "Wouldn't hurt you boys to keep up with the literature." Fin and Munch didn't look too impressed by Harris' statement, but they said nothing. Harris then took a step closer to them. "So...Jocelyn ready to press charges?" he asked.

Liv stood up and announced, "We're ready to go to the DA."

"Which one?" Munch scoffed sardonically. "They've all lawyered up since Delia Wilson named names."

JJ sighed. Munch had a point. The scandal involving NYC _madam_ Delia Wilson ran high in the ranks. DA's, vice officers, deputy mayors, and more had been exposed in wrong-doings thanks to SVU. It was going to be an uphill battle to find a DA who wanted to prosecute for them after that, but Captain Harris just smirked. "I've got a guy," he said. "Rafael Barba."

JJ's brow furrowed. "Why does that name sound familiar?" she asked looking at her coworkers.

Amanda thought for a moment before she asked, "Isn't he the guy that put away two johns for raping a prostitute?" Harris nodded his head acknowledging that Amanda was correct and now that JJ thought about it, she had heard of that. But she could swear she knew that name from somewhere else.

"That was a tough case," Liv said walking toward Harris. She stopped and rested her hands on her hips. "I thought he was in Brooklyn."

"He _was_ ," Harris responded. "He just requested a lateral to Manhattan. The guy's got big, brass…" He paused for a moment.

JJ raised an eyebrow at Harris.

"Ego," Harris finished with suspecting glances from his detectives. JJ just shook her head. He should have just said _balls_. They all knew he was thinking it. But Harris immediately recovered, "Adam Cain's high-profile. So's Jocelyn Paley. He's perfect."

"Alright then," Munch said folding his arms across his chest. "So who's the lucky one that gets to go talk to this guy with big, brass...ego?" His words clearly mimicking Harris'.

Harris just shook his head. "Benson, Rollins, why don't you both come with me and I'll introduce you."

"No disrespect to your decision sir, but I think JJ should tag along too," Liv said to Harris. He gave Liv a slight look of confusion, but she quickly responded before he could say anything. "JJ's _background_ has proven helpful when meeting new DAs."

"Yeah, she can speak lawyer and God knows I can't," Amanda added. They all looked at JJ for a moment. She knew that Liv knew JJ's background, Amanda knew, Munch knew, and Fin knew. But Harris did not...neither did Nick. Or if he did, he never mentioned it.

Harris looked between Liv and Amanda before he sighed and nodded his head. "Fine, Jacobs you can tag along too. Anyone else want to come along?" he asked sarcastically. Fin, Munch, and Nick shook their heads. "Good. Let's go."

* * *

 _~*~Dun Dun~*~_

* * *

JJ tugged at her necklace as she walked up the steps of the courthouse with Liv, Amanda, and Harris. After making a phonecall, Harris found that A.D.A. Barba was due in Arraignment Court. Harris decided they would catch him after the arraignment. "You didn't have to drag me along. I'm sure I would have met the guy eventually," JJ muttered to Liv as they walked a few steps behind Harris.

"JJ, you went to law school. You're an asset to SVU. With a new DA, we need to play our strongest hand first. So that means having you along," Liv said brushing her hair out of her face. "It's what Cragen would have done."

Harris held the door open for each of his three detectives to walk through. JJ avoided making eye contact with him as she passed through the entrance. She already felt awkward enough tagging along at Liv's request and she didn't want to make things any more awkward. But awkwardness was bound to find her.

The SVU detectives walked into Arraignment Court and stood in the gallery, waiting for their A.D.A. JJ stood closest to the court but when she immediately spotted the man she was fairly certain was Rafael Barba, her eyes widened in shock. A tiny squeak escaped from her lips before she covered her mouth with her hand. She quickly turned around so that her back was to everyone inside.

Amanda, who was standing beside her took noticed of JJ's strange behavior. She looked around the room but could find no reason for it. So, she leaned close to JJ. "What is wrong with you?" Amanda whispered.

"Do you see the A.D.A?" JJ whispered back refusing to look over her shoulder but tapping her foot nervously as she looked at Amanda.

Amanda looked over JJ's shoulder at their new A.D.A. He looked quite smug and sure of himself, not to mention he was nicely dressed. But nothing to tell her why JJ was acting so weird. "Barba? Yeah. So?" Amanda said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"That's the asshole from Starbucks this morning."

Amanda's mouth opened like she was about to laugh, but she suppressed any noise by cupping her hand over her mouth. She shook her head at JJ, no doubt with a smile under her hand. "Only you," Amanda whispered.

JJ folded her arms across her chest. She then closed her eyes and shook her head. "That's not the worst of it. _Twenty-Five_ acts slipped out of my purse this morning...in front of him. He picked it up and noticed all my _notes_. I told him it was for work and now I'm pretty sure he thinks I work in the sex industry." JJ rubbed at her temples.

It was then Amanda began to shake with laughter, but she made no sound of it. "Oh my god, JJ. Only you. Only you."

"It's not funny. I-I panicked. I don't normally panic like that, but I did." JJ explained as Liv looked over at Amanda and JJ curiously. JJ just gave a quick raise of her eyebrows and Liv looked away. JJ then leaned a little closer to Amanda. "Is it too late just to slip out?"

"Liv stuck her neck out for you."

"I know that."

"Besides, you gotta meet him _officially_ sooner or later."

"Preferably later."

Amanda shook her head. "Too late, he's coming this way."

JJ rolled her eyes and threw her head back. Just her luck. She wanted nothing more than to bolt from the room, but that would now be quite obvious especially since Barba _a.k.a Starbucks guy_ had spotted them. So, she stood there with her back to him. She wasn't going to reveal herself until it was absolutely necessary. Until then, she was going to pray he didn't recognize her.

"Captain!" Barba called as he strode closer toward them. "Take your daughters to work day?" he joked as he noticed the three female detectives with him. He glanced curiously at the one who appeared to be studying the woodwork before he stuck his hand out for Captain Harris to shake.

"Detectives Benson," Harris said nodding to Liv. Barba shook Liv's hand. "Rollins." Barba then shook Amanda's hand. "And Jacobs. _Jacobs?_ "

JJ turned around to face A.D.A. Barba. Her left hand absently scratched at her neck as she extended her right hand for him to shake. She didn't miss the giant smirk plastered across his face as Barba reached out and shook JJ's hand. "We've met," Barba said making eye contact with JJ.

"You have?" Liv and Harris asked simultaneously. Amanda covered her mouth once again to hide any sign of amusement.

Barba continued to shake JJ's hand as he chuckled. "I paid for her coffee this morning because she was holding up the line." Not wanting to let him know he intimidated her, she continued to shake his hand until things were obviously awkward and Amanda cleared her throat. JJ and Barba released their grips on each other's hand and stood there.

"What can I do for you, Captain?" Barba asked Harris.

"I lied and told them you know your way around a courtroom." Barba smiled at his comment and then Harris continued. "I'm sure you've seen the Jocelyn Paley and Adam Cain press going on recently," Harris said. Barba nodded his head. "Ms. Paley's decided to file charges against Mr. Cain."

Mr. Barba nodded his head again. "And that's where I come in." Barba then turned toward JJ. "Your _work_ isn't quite what you led on," he said with a stupid smirk on his face. Amanda understood what he was talking about, but once again Liv and Harris weren't entirely quite sure what to think.

But once again, JJ attempted to hold her ground. She folded her arms across her chest. "You never asked for more specifics." Amanda snickered while Liv and Harris simply watched on.

Barba nodded his head and chuckled. "I didn't want to have to indict you. Luckily for you, now I won't have to." JJ gave him a fake smile before he turned toward Harris. "Captain, why don't we take this to my office?"

"I'm needed back at the precinct," Harris said. "But I'll let you get my filled-in by my detectives. Benson, you have all the paperwork?"

"Yes, sir," Liv responded.

"Good. Well, then, have fun," Harris said before he walked away, leaving Liv, Amanda, and JJ with Barba.

"Follow me," Barba said as he motioned with his arm for them to do as he said. He walked out of the room and into the hall. Liv walked closest to him as Amanda and JJ held a little bit behind. Without saying a word, Barba reached out his hand for Liv to place the folder in his hands. He snapped his fingers to get her attention before she handed the file over to him. He said nothing as the detectives continued to follow him while he read the case file.

Amanda leaned over to JJ. "He _is_ cute." She was making reference to their conversation earlier this morning, but JJ just rolled her eyes.

"No comment," JJ muttered, pulling her long blonde hair behind her ear.

Amanda smirked at JJ. "You gonna plead the fifth while you're at it?"

"If I have to," was all JJ replied.

Wisely, Amanda said nothing more. But she also knew that if there was such a thing as instant chemistry, JJ definitely had it with the new A.D.A. Not that Amanda ever expected JJ to go there, but still, it was nice to see her friend like that. Especially given the dry spell JJ was currently going through.

Barba didn't speak to them until they finally reached his office. "This girl, she appears credible?" he asked without glancing at them and focused solely on the case file as he walked into his office. The detectives followed behind him.

"She's concerned about perception," Liv responded. "But she was raped. Twice."

Barba stopped behind his desk and quickly turned on his heel. "I didn't ask if she was raped. I asked if she appears credible."

"Excuse me?" Amanda scoffed.

"He has to ask that," JJ responded almost as an intermediary. She paused for a moment before she added. "Especially given that it would be his first high-profile case in Manhattan." Barba looked at JJ somewhat stunned. Clearly, he hadn't anticipated _that_ remark. But he simply nodded his head once.

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Look, I get that you have to ask that…"

"Reason being…" Barba started and then dropped the file folder onto his desk before glancing back up at the detectives. "We had a case about two months ago, red hook. Guy strangled a girl so hard, her eyes had petechial hemorrhaging. Punk tells the jury they met in a bar, she's into S&M. It's a complete lie. The jury deadlocks."

JJ winced whether you were a cop or the prosecuting lawyer, a jury deadlock wasn't a good thing. But there had to be a point to the story. "Why did they deadlock?" JJ asked with her arms folded across her chest. "I assume it's pertinent to this discussion."

"A detective who can read between the lines, good," Barba said glancing toward JJ. She was rather taken aback by his compliment, unsure whether he actually meant it or was once again being facetious. Barba shifted his stance and then continued. "Later we find out that half of them read your victim's book."

"That'll do it," JJ muttered to herself, shaking her head.

Barba looked at her curiously but his attention was quickly diverted away as Liv made her opinion known. "Okay, I'm confused," Liv scoffed. "Harris told us you win cases everybody else ducks."

Liv stared him down for a few seconds before he responded. Barba smiled for a moment and said, "Sometimes." Clearly, Liv had made him...and he knew it. He nodded his head. "Let me talk to the victim."

"She's had a rough couple of days…" Amanda started, clearly not wanting to subject Jocelyn to him quite yet.

"If we go forward, it's not going to get any easier," Barba said.

JJ sighed and responded, "He does have a point. If she can't make it through a discussion with the prosecutor on her case, she'll never survive. Especially if she's called to testify and then put under cross."

"Like Detective Jacobs said earlier, this is going to be high profile. I need to know everything so I can get out in front of any fires Cain or his defense might try to set."

As much as she hated to admit it, the guy knew how to do his job. Amanda looked at her and JJ nodded. "It's in Jocelyn's best interest."

"Okay then," Liv said. "We'll see what we can do. Thanks for your time. We'll be in contact." Liv stuck her hand out and shook Barba's hand once more. Amanda followed suit and so did JJ.

The three female SVU detectives then headed for the door. JJ thought that maybe the awkwardness of the situation was over, but she was wrong. Barba called for her once she reached the door. "Detective Jacobs, hold on a minute."

Liv and Amanda stopped. "Go on," she told them. "I'll catch up with you." Liv and Amanda nodded their heads and walked away. JJ turned back toward Barba as she tucked a stray tendril of blonde hair behind her hear. "Yes?"

Barba shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "You said you'd have my money the next time we ran into each other." He smirked.

JJ shook her head. She couldn't tell if he was teasing her or if he was being serious. So, she tried a response that could cater to either side. "You really think I've had time to stop at an ATM, Counselor?"

He shrugged his shoulders, still grinning.

With another shake of her head, JJ responded, "You know where I work. I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Barba nodded his head, this time softly smiling. "I'll be seeing you then."

* * *

 **Author's Note: So, there it is. I blame Brooklyn Knight (in a good way) for getting me readdicted to SVU. Hence the reason the barista is named Brooke. (Also if you haven't read her SVU story Waiting Game, you should) So, I know I'm splitting Twenty-Five Acts into two chapters because otherwise, it would get too long. After that, I have a feeling I'll focus more on Barba/JJ-I just wanted to get her established in the SVU universe. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of this story (especially on Tumblr) I hope it doesn't suck too badly. haha.**


	2. Twenty-Five Acts II

**14x03: Twenty-Five Acts Pt. 2**

* * *

After their meeting with the A.D.A., Liv, Amanda, and JJ walked back into the 16th precinct. They found Fin and Munch at their desks while Nick was poured himself a cup of coffee. JJ walked to her desk and plopped down on her chair. She rested her elbows on her desk and then rubbed her face in frustration. The meeting with the new A.D.A. hadn't exactly gone well...at least, not for her. Sure, he was at least interested in trying their case but the whole situation had proved to be nothing but embarrassment for JJ. And for reasons unknown to her, she allowed it to get to her. Or rather allowed _him_ to get to her.

Fin looked over at JJ curiously and then to Liv and Amanda, who appeared unfazed before he looked back at JJ. He leaned back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. He asked to no one in particular, "New guy that bad?"

"Yes," JJ groaned which made Amanda laugh.

Fin glanced at Amanda, who smiled. "JJ's just embarrassed because he already knew her," Amanda said in a teasing manner with her Southern drawl, which caused JJ roll her eyes and groan.

Munch glanced across the desk at JJ before turning toward Amanda. "I have a feeling there's a good story here," he said pointing toward JJ, who shook her head. Amanda responded with a smirk and a nod of her head. Noting the differences in opinion made him smile. "Oh, now I definitely need to hear this."

Into her hands, JJ groaned, 'No."

"I should have made popcorn," Munch teased as he motioned with his hand for Amanda to continue with the story.

"So, we walk into Arraignment Court and JJ freaks…" Amanda started.

JJ rolled her eyes. "I did not _freak_ ," she muttered.

" _Fine."_ Amanda rolled her eyes in response to JJ before she continued. "The second JJ spots Barba, she turns her back on him so he can't see her."

Munch glanced over at JJ. "Very mature," he said to her. "Clearly, _not_ freaking." JJ groaned again and shook her head. She already knew this was something she was never going to live down. Neither Munch nor Amanda was ever going to let this die.

Amanda continued, "Anyway, backtrack, you remember the guy she was pissed at when she walked in this morning?" Both Munch and Fin nodded their heads and Nick walked over carrying a cup of coffee. " _That_ was Barba."

"Oh!" Fin laughed, shifting his position in the chair so that he was sitting upright. He glanced at JJ, who now had buried her head in her arms. "Please tell me there's more," he grinned.

"There is," Amanda laughed.

"More what?" Nick asked, sitting down at his desk and taking a sip of coffee. He looked up to find eyes were on him. "What? All I heard was Barba."

Amanda rolled her eyes before she got Nick up to speed. "Recap: JJ's Starbuck's asshole is our new A.D.A. and I was just about to tell how JJ made quite the impression on him."

JJ looked at Nick and groaned. Nick smirked. "Oh, well, then,...continue," he said taking another sip of his coffee. "It's gotta be good if it gets JJ like this."

"Right?" Munch agreed.

"No," JJ grumbled in a long and drawn-out tone.

"I don't remember the last time I saw her so squirrely," Fin commented with a chuckle.

Munch looked across his desk at JJ and shook his head. "You do realize that you're making this worse for yourself. It's like a BandAid. Just get it done and over."

"Liv, help?" JJ begged, looking at the older female detective for some sympathy.

Liv leaned back in her chair and smiled, folding her arms across her chest. "I gotta admit, JJ. I'm curious too."

"You've got to be kidding me." JJ rubbed at her face. They had all turned on her.

"Five to one, Jage," Amanda said with a grin pointing out each person who wanted to hear the rest of the story. "Either you can finish telling it, or I can."

JJ glanced at her coworkers but one look at Munch making a peeling motion caused her to cave. "Fine," JJ groaned. "But ya'll are acting like a bunch of middle schoolers about this." Her comment didn't seem to bother any of them, which slightly unnerved her. "I was in line at Starbucks and the credit card machine fritzed. I dug in my purse for cash and my copy of _Twenty-Five Acts_ fell out and landed in front of him." That much made Fin chuckle and Munch grin.

"He then picked it up for me and asked if the post-its were my favorite parts. I told him it was for work and after I said it I realized how wrong that sounded…" Everyone started to laugh. Even Liv, who was careful to cover her mouth. "I mean, I couldn't tell him I was a cop otherwise it might lead to suspicion and Jocelyn hadn't expressed a desire to charge yet...So, I never clarified. He didn't know I was a cop until the courtroom. And given by his comment when I left, I'm pretty sure he assumed I worked in the sex industry but he said he didn't press because he said he didn't want to indict me. Probably because that would be awkward since he had just paid for my coffee. And…"

JJ stopped talking as the sound of laughter buried her words. Clearly, her coworkers thought the entire situation comical. She just shook her head. "Go on, keep laughing."

They did.

"It's not _that_ funny." But her words went unheard.

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun ~*~

* * *

The next morning, JJ made sure she arrived at Starbucks twenty minutes before she usually did so that she could avoid a potential run-in with Barba. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair as she surveyed the line, checking to make sure that _he_ wasn't there. Not that it really mattered. Not seeing him, she joined the line. "Detective," a voice came from behind. "So, we meet again."

The voice was familiar. JJ closed her eyes at the recognition of the voice. _Dammit_. She turned around with a fake smile on her face when she saw Barba standing in the door. Once again he was sharply dressed. His suit coat was draped over his arm, but today instead of wearing suspenders, he donned a waistcoat. When she realized she was ogling, she offered him a greeting, hoping he hadn't noticed. "Counselor," she said tugging her hair behind her ear before she fired-off a quick retort that responded to the statement he had made before her eyes had wandered. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

He gave a slight nod of his head as he took a few more steps inside and took his place in line behind JJ. JJ hoped he couldn't tell how flustered he made her, for reasons she herself didn't even understand. She wasn't normally like this. She tried to tell herself to play it cool. She was likely going to be working many, many times with this guy for the unforeseeable future. She needed to get over what happened the day before, which of course was easier said than done. So for now, she was going to have to fake it until she made it.

JJ slowly exhaled and stood quietly in line until it was her turn to order. "Morning," JJ greeted the same barista from the day before, Brooke. JJ shifted her stance as she looked up at the board for a moment. "Uhh-I'll take a Venti Iced Caffe Mocha please."

Brooke entered the information for JJ's order on her screen. She then looked up at JJ and at Barba behind her. "You gonna return the favor?" Brooke asked nodding toward Barba with a coy smile on her face. "Buy him his drink today? The credit card machine is even working."

JJ chuckled, but the barista seemed to be waiting for an answer. The SVU detective glanced over her shoulder at Barba and sighed. Fake it until you make it, right? "Hey, Counselor," JJ said over her shoulder. He seemed to ignore her. So, she repeated herself and then he glanced up at her with a _what?_ expression on his face. "Get what you want. It's on me."

Barba looked up her rather curiously as he pocketed his phone. "You do realize you'd have to buy me three coffees in order to make up for the price of whatever it was I paid for yesterday."

The blonde stared at him for a moment and shook her head before she quipped, "I think the drink holders are free. I can ask if you're interested."

That made him smile. JJ bit her bottom lip and turned around to face the barista. She drummed her fingers against the counter a couple of times before she glanced over her shoulder again. "You know, now I think _you're_ the one holding up the line, Counselor. So am I buying your damn coffee or not?"

Barba found the situation amusing and couldn't help but smirk. "I'll have my usual," he said with a nod. He then attempted to move past her. His arm brushed against her back and made shivers go up her spine.

When his back was to her, JJ called, "Are you sure you don't want three of them?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her and shook his head. "You're not getting off _that_ easy, Detective."

JJ looked at him in slight disbelief as Brooke, the barista asked for her card. The SVU detective shook her head and scoffed under her breath before she handed the barista her card. Thankfully, it worked this time. She said her thanks and then walked to stand and wait by Barba, whose phone was in his hands. "Work or pleasure?" JJ asked, without looking at him.

"You're the detective, you tell me," Barba responded as his thumbs typed furiously. He didn't even glance her direction.

JJ nodded her head. Fair enough. She took a sideways glance at him before she said, "Work. You're new to the Manhattan D.A.'s office and not to mention the case we're throwing your way."

Barba tore his eyes from his phone and looked at her. "Good work detective. Are all SVU detectives' observations as astute as yours?"

"Are all Manhattan A.D.A's as insulting as you?" She paused for a second before continuing. "Oh, hang on. You wouldn't know, you're new. Word of advice Counselor, you might want to be a little nicer to your detectives. They make your job easier." She raised an eyebrow at him and smirked.

His expression showed that he was rather impressed. After yesterday, he hadn't really expected her to be able to hold her own. He dropped his phone into his pocket and folded his arms across his chest. "Speaking of work, are you one of the detectives swinging by my office this morning?"

JJ shook her head. "Detective Benson is the one with a rapport with the vic. I'll be working the case back at the precinct." She paused for a moment and glanced at him. He just nodded his head. "Try not to look so disappointed," she said sarcastically.

Barba smirked as he glanced over at JJ. "I'll try," he responded, equally sarcastic.

The barista walked over with two drinks. JJ and Barba walked up to the counter and grabbed their respective drinks. Simultaneously, they both took sips from their beverages and then glanced at each other, but said nothing. JJ then brushed her blonde hair behind her ear and walked away from him.

Barba stood there for a moment and watched her walk away. She intrigued him and he didn't know why. He could see how easily he could fluster her and that amused him. The phone buzzed in his pocket. He was needed at the D.A.'s office. With that he took another sip of his drink and walked out.

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

JJ sat at her desk in the squad room staring at the computer screen in front of her. She opened her eyes wide and then rubbed at them before she closed them and leaned back in her chair. She had spent the last several hours sifting through social media sites and the internet for anything on rumors about Kane that could potentially be pertinent. Nick walked over to her desk and sat on the edge of it. "The more I Google this guy, the more I dislike him," Nick said. "Someone in his position, preying on women the way he does...it makes me sick."

"It happens more often than you'd think," JJ sighed, refusing to make eye contact with him. She anxiously tugged at her necklace, _knowing_ it was her tell, but there were times when she couldn't help herself. She just hoped Nick didn't notice. "Some people in positions of power sometimes just want more and more and they know they can, and they will do anything to get what they want."

"I mean, I get _that_ , but it's not a position _I_ get." Nick shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. JJ nodded her head, hoping that it was a position he never would understand. He then pointed behind JJ. "Liv's back from the D.A.'s office. I think she brought your buddy Barba back with her."

JJ turned to look over her shoulder. Sure enough, Rafael Barba walked through the 16th precinct beside Liv. JJ then turned toward Nick and muttered, "He's not my buddy." Nick said nothing, he just smiled before he stood up and walked over to his desk.

Liv and Barba walked into the squad room and came to a stop near JJ's desk. JJ tried to keep her gaze on the computer screen, knowing how close in proximity he was to her. "Guys," Liv called, trying to garner the attention of the SVU detectives. She motioned for Fin and Munch to come join them from the table where they were working. The two complied and then Liv motioned toward Barba. "This is A.D.A. Rafael Barba, he's here to talk to you to about Jocelyn's case. He wants any and everything we have before he moves for an arraignment. He'll be meeting you all in the conference room in five."

Barba just nodded his head before he took a sip from a to-go coffee cup that wasn't the Starbucks cup he had this morning. Liv then motioned for Barba to follow her and he did. JJ could help but glance at him as he walked away from her, but she quickly looked back at her desk when Munch approached her. "He doesn't seem so bad," the sergeant said with a shrug.

JJ rolled her eyes. "He hasn't opened his mouth yet. Just wait." She then opened the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out her purse. She dug for her wallet, which now contained the cash she had gotten out of the ATM between her stop at Starbucks this morning and coming into work. She pulled out a five dollar bill and slipped it into her pants pocket, fully intending to pay the A.D.A. back from yesterday's coffee debacle.

JJ then slipped into the conference room before the others after Liv left. She walked into the room to find Barba sitting on a chair at the head of the table slowly sipping his coffee. Without saying anything, JJ walked up to him and set the five dollar bill in front of him on the table. She then turned to walk away and take a seat at the opposite end of the table. "What's this?" he asked.

She glanced at him over her shoulder with an arched eyebrow. "I think you know," she commented.

They made eye contact. For a moment, he was silent and appeared to mull things over. But then he did something that surprised her. Instead of pocketing the five dollar bill, he pushed it away from him. "I can't accept this," he said with a hint of a smirk on his face.

JJ blinked slowly several times before responding is disbelief. "You're joking, right?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not." He took another sip of his coffee and glanced up at JJ, quickly noting how quick she was to react-exactly has he had anticipated. "This will put us in the awkward situation of me owing you. A position I probably shouldn't put myself in as someone new to the Manhattan D.A.'s office, as you pointed out yesterday and this morning." He paused for another moment and then said. "Exact change please."

JJ had no time to respond because Nick chose that moment to stroll into the conference room. So, she walked back, snatched her five dollar bill off the table, and plopped onto the chair farthest away from Barba as Nick went and introduced himself to the new A.D.A. As she put the five dollar bill back in her pocket, Fin and Munch walked into the room and toward Barba to introduce themselves.

She sat there with her arms folded across her chest, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor. Munch, knowing JJ quite well, knew that something had JJ miffed. It was rare for him to see JJ like this. Usually, she was quite cool, calm, and composed, but something about this new A.D.A. seemed to get to her. While Munch wasn't sure what the deal was, he was loyal to JJ and not this new A.D.A. and he would express as much if he needed to.

Munch and Fin sat down beside JJ while Nick chose to stand, leaning against a shelving unit. Barba then sat up a little in his chair and looked between the four of them. "Alright, now that everyone knows everyone. There's still one person I need to know about. What can you tell me about Adam Cain?" Barba said.

"He has a popular television talk show," Nick was the first to respond.

Barba shook his head. "Aside from the obvious, Detective." He took a sip of his coffee and looked at Fin and Munch. "You've met him. Tell me something I don't know. Talk to me about his demeanor, who he is as a person. I need to know this guy's story as well as I know Jocelyn's if I'm going to pursue this."

"Adam Cain's demeanor is somewhere between cocky and charming," Munch responded folding his arms across his chest.

Fin leaned back in his seat. "He didn't charm me," the detective pointed out.

"He wasn't trying to get in _your_ pants," JJ pointed out to Fin, which made Fin nod his head. "Cain can be quite charming when he wants to be."

Barba looked at JJ curiously. "You've met him, Detective?"

"Once at a charity function my first year at SVU. Nothing to do with the current investigation." JJ paused for a moment. "Nor was it anything to cause a conflict of interest or cause me to be accused of having a vendetta. It was fifteen seconds. Fifteen seconds he probably doesn't even remember, given a number of people he meets every day."

Barba nodded his head before continuing. "Did he seem like the kind of guy who didn't realize he'd crossed the line?"

Nick shook his head. "Nah, he knew," he responded. "The only difference between him and a power-assertive rapist is he's got a better vocabulary."

"I thought you didn't meet him?" Barba asked quizzically.

"I did some digging." Nick folded his arms across his chest as JJ cleared her throat. He rolled his eyes. " _We_ did some digging," Nick clarified, pointing to JJ. "There's a lot of rumors."

"And we're not talking just the LMZ fodder material," JJ added.

"He preys on young girls new to the city."

JJ then rested her hand on Munch's arm. "Thank God, you were my date that night. Otherwise, who knows what could have happened." Munch glanced at JJ and gave a slight nod of his head before JJ removed her hand.

Barba noticed the gesture and his brow furrowed momentarily, but he said nothing about it. "Any of these girls press charges?" the A.D.A asked.

"Jocelyn will be the first," Nick answered.

The A.D.A. slowly nodded his head, piecing together the puzzle. "Okay, there's no rush," Barba said as Amanda walked into the conference room. "Powerful guy. We go up against him, we move deliberately."

Amanda shook her head. "Maybe we do, but he doesn't," she announced, clearly upset by something. "He decided he was going to leak his opening monologue for tonight's broadcast and it's all over the internet."

The detectives and the A.D.A. glanced at each other, but JJ verbalized what they were all thinking. "Well, shit," JJ said rather disgruntledly, banging a hand against the table. Fin and Nick nodded their heads in response.

"I have it pulled up if ya'll want to watch," Amanda said pointing behind her. They quickly followed Amanda out to the table set up in front of a television screen. Unintentionally, JJ found herself standing beside Barba as Amanda pressed play.

On the television, Cain began to speak, _"You hear these stories- powerful men being accused of doing something stupid. Well, now I'm one of those guys. The media he said, she said circus is coming to town, and I am about to be thrown into the ring of fire. I'm about to be accused of rape by author Jocelyn Paley. Now, before I'm charged, I just want to make one thing perfectly clear. Unlike a certain former president... I did have sex with that woman. Now, I know it, and she damn well knows it too."_

Everyone began to comment, but JJ didn't say anything. Instead, she folded her arms tightly across her chest as one hand absently reached to grab her necklace. She _hated_ men in power who used their situations to put them on top. Hated it. She had experience with something similar in the past and it irked her. The very fact that he was using his situation _showed_ that he _knew_ he had done something wrong. But everything could be a PR game. Anything could be spun into a positive for people who had enough money...and that wasn't right. And she was rather thankful that Barba agreed.

"Cain just forced our hand," Barba said as he slid his hands into his pockets. "We have to strike back."

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun ~*~

* * *

The day of Adam Cain's arraignments trial, JJ sat in the gallery with Liv, Amanda, and Captain Harris. Amanda hadn't even needed to ask for her to tag along this time. Harris must have realized that it was coming, so he ordered her to tag along before anyone said anything. They were there because after Barba had given the go-ahead, Munch and Fin had arrested Cain in a fancy restaurant. Paparazzi had caught it and the headline had been all over the news cycles. Now, here they were, ready to arraign Cain.

JJ sat at the end of the bench beside Amanda. She fidgeted slightly in her seat before Barba swaggered into the room, practically dripping with confidence. Barba glanced over to the SVU detectives and gave them a nod before he took his place at the podium. Barba spelled-out the charges they were bringing against Cain, which Cain plead not guilty to. The A.D.A. then made a strong argument for remand, but Cain's defense attorney, Rita Calhoun, was good. Which wasn't a surprise. Those with money could afford the best attorneys...even if they had to groom them themselves. Not that Cain had groomed his attorney, but others…

The judge granted remand and then banged his gavel. Barba nodded toward them once more before he walked toward the exit, close on the heels of Cain's defense attorney. The SVU detectives and Captain Harris followed behind Barba.

"So, now you're against free speech?" Calhoun scoffed at Barba and shook her head.

But Barba was quick to argue back. "How 'bout Cain opens his mouth again, and I'll move for a gag order?"

Calhoun, however, could go blow for blow with the A.D.A. "From what I read, your witness likes those too." She gave Barba a pointed look and then walked away, her heels clicking with every step she took.

"She seems... _nice,_ " JJ said rather sarcastically as she came to a stop beside Barba. She folded her arms across her chest and watched Calhoun walk away.

"It was great when she was on our side," Barba groaned. "She stopped prosecuting to work in the private sector." His words almost had a hint of disgust.

"Not every great lawyer ends up a prosecutor," Amanda commented glancing toward JJ. JJ shook her head ever so slightly. But Barba didn't miss the exchange. He looked curiously between the two of them and sighed.

"Well, they should be," he commented before pointing down the hallway. "Because, that? That was just a warning shot." He shook his head and then started to walk. "She's going to move to have the book admitted."

"And there goes rape shield," Amanda moaned as they SVU detectives began to follow Barba down the hallway.

"Yep," Liv commented, following behind Amanda. "They're gonna find whatever lover inspired the book. He'll testify that she liked it rough from behind. Game over."

"Game. Over." JJ repeated.

Captain Harris then joined in the conversation. "Well, it's better if we find the guy first," he offered.

"That sort of _awakening_ probably happened during college," JJ commented which made Barba give her a raised eyebrow expression which made her roll her eyes. She looked right at him and shook her head. "I can tell what you're thinking and no. Don't even go there."

"I didn't say anything," Barba commented.

JJ argued, "No, but you were thinking it."

"Huh, you've known me all of a few days and you can already tell what I'm thinking." He paused for a moment and looked at her rather smugly, with his hands in his pockets. "Maybe, I was just thinking about the money you still owe me."

JJ groaned, but Amanda came to her rescue, changing the subject back to the case at hand. "Jocelyn went to Silver Springs College in Maryland. We can drive down there tomorrow morning."

Simultaneously, JJ and Barba responded, "Try tonight." Realizing they had answered together, they both quickly turned and looked at each other in surprise. Barba eyed her curiously. "And why is it _you_ think you should leave tonight and not tomorrow?" he asked. "Paid leave on NYPD's dime?"

They stopped in front of the elevator and JJ stood a little taller before she responded. "Funny, but no. As of five minutes ago, you now have five days to indict Cain or the judge releases him from the remand he just placed."

"She's... _right_ ," he responded rather slowly, almost surprised those words came from his mouth before he stepped into the elevator. "The clock's ticking."

The SVU detectives followed Barba into the elevator. "We can't let that happen," Liv said. "If he gets out he'll go back on TV and mock Jocelyn until she folds. We gotta go now."

"Not you...or Rollins," Harris said pressing the button to take them down to the ground floor. "Jocelyn sees you two as advocates. Let's keep it that way."

JJ folded her arms across her chest. "So, I guess that leaves me, Fin, Munch, and Amaro?" she asked.

Harris nodded his head as he turned toward her. "Yeah, but you're going because you seem to know exactly what he's looking for." Harris glanced toward Barba before giving JJ a slight smile. It was at that moment, JJ was fairly certain that Harris had looked into her background before joining NYPD. Not that it was a bad thing, a captain should know who is working under him. But he knew _something_ about her that she wasn't always as forthcoming about because it led to a big, messy story that she was never sure how much to share.

The elevator came to a stop at the ground floor and the group stepped into the busy entrance of the courthouse. They walked outside the courthouse and began to descend the steps. JJ left the group to join the small line at a coffee kiosk. If she was going to be road-tripping with the guys, she was going to need more caffeine. A throat cleared behind her and JJ turned to find Barba in line behind her... _again_. "Are you following me?" JJ asked.

Barba shrugged. "I needed some coffee and I wanted to talk to you really quick. Two birds with one stone, more efficient use of my time."

"Well, then…" was all JJ offered.

"Detective Jacobs, I take it you studied some law?" Barba asked.

JJ shrugged her shoulders. "A little," she said noncommittally glancing up at the menu.

"Probably a pre-law class or two?" Again, JJ just shrugged. Barba nodded his head and held his hand out toward her. "Phone?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your phone. I'd like to see it," Barba said rather bluntly. JJ's eyebrow arched as she glanced over at him like he was crazy. He just rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to look through your sexts, Detective." She shook her head. This guy was really overestimating her love life.

Rather reluctantly, JJ pulled her phone from her pocket and handed it to him. He swiped the screen, but her lock screen came up. He glanced at her and pointed to her phone. "Unlock it, _please_?"

JJ rolled her eyes. "Well, since you said please…" she said rather sarcastically as she typed her password into the phone and it unlocked. Curiously, she watched what he did with her phone. He went to the phone part and punched in a phone number. He then hit call and held the phone out to her.

"You find _anything_ I can use, you call me immediately."

JJ snatched her phone back from him and hit the end call button. "This how you get your dates' numbers too?" she muttered. He must not have heard what she muttered because no witty response was returned. JJ slipped her phone back into her pocket before she ordered her coffee and left.

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

Interviewing Jocelyn's former roommate was a rather welcome reprieve after spending nearly four hours in a car with Munch, Fin, and Nick and a night out on the town with them. Although, Madison Kellner was absolutely no help in determining how Jocelyn got into BDSM. JJ walked through the campus to meet up with the others when her phone buzzed. She pulled her phone out to see that she had a text from Jack Ass. She rolled her eyes. It was the second text this morning. It was obvious Barba was growing rather impatient, but at this rate, she was going to have to change her phone number if she ever wanted peace again. Without opening the text, she put the phone back in her pocket. She didn't have anything for him, so there wasn't a point in saying anything.

She found Nick, Fin, and Munch waiting for her near the flagpoles. "Roommate two was a bust," JJ said. "Said that the book came as a shock. Jocelyn never discussed BDSM. She asked for a condom once, but that's about it."

"Roommate three was pretty much the same," Nick offered.

"Maybe she was with a professor who doesn't want to get called out," Fin suggested.

Munch shook his head. "Or she just researched it, like all her other references to Renaissance erotic imagery and sexual awakenings."

"He has a point," JJ said, backing up her partner...well, technically _former_ partner. "Everything that I know that I didn't learn at Harvard or the Academy comes from Google."

"You're a little more well-read than that," Munch said rather dryly.

Fin nodded his head. "Books? Google? Doesn't matter. You can put a diploma on it, but porn is porn."

"See, that's the thing," Nick offered as he jumped up onto the ledge of flower bed surrounding the flag poles. He walked a few steps. "Jocelyn's highbrow references don't add up. JJ, you read through her blogs and tweets too. Would you agree?"

JJ nodded. "But maybe she's dumbing herself down. People with celebrity status do that."

"But her book is there only place with a record of those references. Everything in her personal life alludes to her idea of a sexual culture reference being _Gilligan's Island_."

"You think she's not showing enough depth in her tweets?" Munch questioned, glancing at Nick over his glasses. Nick shrugged his shoulders.

"So, she's living a double life," Fin offered. "Kinks like this don't spring up overnight."

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

Two days later JJ sat in the Silver Springs College cafeteria eating lunch with Munch, Nick, and Fin. Needless to say she was exhausted. Coffee and food quickly became her best friends. Surprisingly, the food was rather good. Although, compared to JJ's cooking skills, the odds were in their favor. JJ nibbled on the chicken tenders she had taken as she looked to her coworkers. Their meals looked much more _adult-ish_ than hers did, but she just shrugged it off. "So, now what?" JJ asked. "We've spent days combing through every possible person Jocelyn could have known, but we came up empty."

"There's still one more person," Nick said. "I have a meeting scheduled with her former advisor for this afternoon. Kathleen Dobson is not an easy person to track down."

"It _is_ the middle of summer," Fin offered.

"Yeah, but she's teaching a summer course. She canceled on me yesterday because of a family emergency." Nick took a bite of his sandwich.

"So you think she's going to be our big break?" Munch asked.

Nick shrugged. He swallowed his food before he answered. "I don't know. I just have this feeling that we're missing something."

"Yeah," JJ scoffed. "Someone to tell us which damn needle we're supposed to be looking for." The group fell into a momentary lull as they ate their lunches. JJ reached for her glass of water and took a drink. "You know," she started. "There's no point in all four of us staying down here. I'll hang back here with Nick and you two can head back to the city."

"I can't decide if you're taking one for the team or you really don't want to meet up with Barba in the morning," Munch said leaning back against his chair.

"Both," JJ answered honestly which made them laugh. She was a bit peeved with their new A.D.A. He either called or texted her once a day to see if they found anything, which annoyed JJ. Hadn't she said she would tell him if she found anything? Although, the more she thought about it, she never _told_ him in so many words. But they were on the same team, he should have expected that if she had anything she'd let him know. He must not have thought too highly of her.

After lunch, Munch and Fin headed back to NYC, while JJ and Nick stayed behind. The two detectives strolled through the campus. JJ yawned. Afterward, she slowly blinked. "How much sleep did you get last night?" Nick asked.

"None," JJ admitted. "I was up all night going over Jocelyn's tweets and blogs again, looking for something I might have missed. All-nighters. Brings back nightmares of college."

"So, you've been on…"

"Too long. But I'm good."

"You should go back to the hotel and get a nap," Nick suggested.

JJ shook her head. "I just need some coffee."

"No offense, but you're not much of a help to me like this. Go get some sleep. I can handle the professor on my own...if she even shows. I'll call you if I learn anything."

JJ yawned again. "You're sure?" she asked.

Nick nodded his head in response. So, JJ reluctantly walked back to the hotel for a midafternoon nap, while Nick met with Kathleen Dobson. Honestly, she needed the nap. She was beginning to run herself ragged with this case. But she refused to be the reason why Cain got away. That was a role she refused to play.

It seemed like she had just rested her head on the pillow when her phone began to ring. Slowly, she reached over and picked it up, without looking who was calling. "Hello?" she mumbled.

"Sleeping on the job, Detective?" a voice that wasn't Nick's, said.

JJ groaned. "It's called a nap, Barba. I didn't sleep last night because I was up all night looking for something you might be able to use since our searches so far have come up empty."

"You know, there's this new thing called caffeine that helps you push through that. It's found in coffee of all things, in case you didn't know."

"I've actually heard of it, believe it or not. But just in case _you_ didn't know-the human body requires some amount of sleep to function properly, so people can do their jobs and find A.D.A.'s the evidence they're looking for."

Barba chuckled. "You're crabby when you wake up."

"You haven't even seen crabby," JJ groaned. "Now, can I go now or are you going to continue to keep me from taking my nap which will, in turn, keep me from finding you what you need?"

She heard another chuckle and then a click on the other end. Thank God. He hung up the phone. So, JJ went back to her nap. She slept a little longer this time before her phone started to ring again. JJ groaned as she rolled over. If Barba was calling her again, she just might kill him when she got back to New York. And by kill, she meant it quite figuratively, but she fully intended on making him as miserable as he made her. But when she picked up the phone, she found that it was Nick calling.

"Nick, did you find something?" JJ asked rather gruffly as she sat up in bed.

Nick responded, "Not yet. But something doesn't seem quite right."

* * *

~*~Dun Dun ~*~

* * *

Nick and JJ were walking on the sidewalk toward Professor Dobson's office building when JJ's phone began to ring. It was Jack Ass. Barba. She motioned for Nick to stop. They did and then she accepted the call and put it on speaker. "Detectives Jacobs and Amaro speaking," JJ said rather professionally.

"Four days and you guys can't find the guy who got her into this?" Barba questioned. "What's the problem?"

"I think we're asking the wrong questions," Nick responded. " We need another day."

"Don't have it. I'm taking Jocelyn to the Grand Jury now."

"Good luck," JJ offered. Nick looked at her curiously, but she just shrugged and rolled her eyes before she hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket. "We should still keep looking," JJ said shielding her eyes from the sun. "Just because Barba can't use it at the Grand Jury doesn't mean whatever we find can't be helpful for the trial if the Grand Jury indicts Cain."

"Yeah, I know that," Nick responded. "I know how to do my job."

"Sorry," JJ apologized. "I didn't mean anything by it. Now, you said something didn't sit right about your meeting with Dobson yesterday. Walk me through it."

JJ meant quite literally because they began to walk once more. Nick began to talk her through his meeting with Dobson. "She said she had no idea how Jocelyn got involved in the world. I asked if there were any professors who might have inspired it and she said no. We talked about the fancy piano...a harpsichord, I think she said." JJ nodded her head and motioned for him to keep going. "Uhh-I told her how Maria likes _Adagio_ by Albinoni…"

"Did you know his most well-known piece was actually composed by his biographer?"

Nick stopped. "Huh, she said the same thing."

JJ too came to a stop and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, that's it. Nick, we need post-its, Chinese takeout, and any published works by Kathleen Dobson we can get our hands on."

"How is that going to help?" Nick asked.

"Jocelyn didn't write the book. You said it yourself when we got down here. The writing styles don't match. Granted, I understand it's hard for your style to shine in 144 characters, but still. I bet if we look at Dobson's work, we're going to find that either Jocelyn plagiarized Dobson or…"

"Jocelyn is Albinoni and Dobson is the biographer

Nick and JJ returned to the hotel with Chinese takeout, post-its, and several copies of Professor Dobson's published works. JJ had tried to call Barba, but his phone went straight to voicemail. He was no doubt in front of the Grand Jury.

JJ just hoped that Jocelyn didn't perjure herself. JJ and Nick went to work. They pored over Dobson's works. By the time JJ made it to Dobson's final work, she was convinced. She muttered, "Holy shit." Over and over again. Reading through Professor Dobson's academic works was quite _enlightening_. JJ's copy of Dobson's book was filled with Post-It notes. "This reads almost like _Twenty-Five Acts_ ," was the first sentence JJ managed to string together. "The writing style. Wow. Holy shit."

"Where did you learn linguistics?" Nick questioned as he rubbed at his eyes.

"You pick up a thing or two growing up in the publishing world." Nick looked at her curiously. "My first dream was to be a writer," JJ offered. "I ghost-wrote something once to try to impress _someone_. And let me tell you, it's harder than you think because you want to try and match their writing style."

"How did you become a cop then?"

JJ scratched the back of her neck and then reached for the chain of her necklace. "It's a complicated story." She paused for a moment. "So, one of us needs to go see Professor Dobson and one of us should get this back to Barba." JJ held the book up with all the post-it notes. "I'll Rock, Paper, Scissors you for visiting Dobson."

Nick looked at her pointedly. "Or we could just handle this like adults. I've built a rapport with Dobson and you with Barba."

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

Five hours later, JJ found herself walking up the steps of the D.A.'s office. Honestly, she found herself hoping that Barba _wasn't_ there and that Nick could swing their work by in the morning, but she found the light on in his office as she drew closer. The door to his office was open. Holding the book, she stood on the threshold of the door, but he didn't look up. He was too busy focused on the paperwork in front of him. JJ cleared her throat and that caught his attention. He looked up at her, quite surprised to see her there. But his shock didn't last long as he motioned for her to come in.

"To what do I owe this visit?" he asked leaning back in his chair before pointing for her to take a chair on the other side of his desk. JJ glanced at him for a moment to see his tie hanging loosely around his neck and sleeves rolled-up. For a moment, he almost didn't look so rigid as she thought he was.

She then sat down across from him. "I tried calling. I left a message."

"I was in Grand Jury when you called."

JJ tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I figured. _That's_ why I called you. Nick and I found something." JJ tossed Kathleen Dobson's book on his desk. "Did you ask Jocelyn point blank if she wrote the book or allude to it in any way in front of the Grand Jury?"

"Of course I did."

"Then, she perjured herself. Jocelyn Paley didn't write _Twenty-Five Acts_."

"Excuse me?"

JJ pointed at the book on his desk. "Look at it. You'll see what I'm talking about. Kathleen Dobson's writing patterns match those in _Twenty-Five Acts."_ Barba picked up the book and began sifting through JJ's notes. "Nick says that Jocelyn didn't plagiarize it. Dobson just didn't want the work associated with her name. The woman wasn't exactly forthcoming but she's got a serious load of money coming her way. Too much for a college professor, even one published in the academic world."

Barba flipped through several more pages before he slammed the book down on his desk. Then he glanced at JJ. "You couldn't have found this, I don't know, _yesterday_?"

But JJ had already anticipated that he would take the news poorly, so she didn't let it get to her. "What about you?" she questioned. "You couldn't have pressed your witness a little harder for the truth?"

"Dammit!" Barba hissed, pounding his fist against the book before he rubbed at his jawline where a five o'clock shadow was beginning to form. Knowing that she was no longer needed, JJ said nothing more as she stood up and quietly walked out of his office and he made no motion to stop her.

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

It took some pressing, but Barba, Amanda, and Liv eventually got Jocelyn to tell the truth about the book and its origins. Apparently, the whole reason Jocelyn never came forward about the information was because she would lose any money she had made. But Barba's threat of indicting her for lying to the Grand Jury changed her tune to tell the truth at the trial. The only downside of that, was that the jury would likely see Jocelyn as a liar and that was an easily enough picture to continue painting for even the most novice of defense attorneys.

The trial hit center stage in the middle of August and the media frenzy concerning trial coverage was unbelievable. This circus had been building for weeks in a battle of he said/she said, playing out on public television and social media. JJ was glad it was finally going to trial so that maybe they could once again find a sense of normalcy. They hadn't had normalcy in a long time.

In the gallery of the courtroom, JJ sat with Amanda, Nick, and Liv, watching as Jocelyn Paley took the stand. Barba asked her the expected questions. What happened. Why she lied about the book. The consequences she faced for telling the truth. As Jocelyn answered each question, JJ kept her eyes on the defense attorney, Rita Calhoun. With every answer, Rita scribbled something furiously onto a piece of paper. Not good.

And JJ was right. When Calhoun cross-examined Jocelyn, she focused on the lying, just as JJ and Barba had anticipated. Sadly, painting Jocelyn as a liar in front of the jury wasn't that hard to do. And there was nothing Barba could do about it. Jocelyn had set herself up for this. Not that it was right, Calhoun was defending her client by trying to make Jocelyn look uncredible. By the time Rita Calhoun finished with Jocelyn, the witness was practically in tears.

After a short break, Professor Dobson was the next person to take the stand for the prosecution. Of course, the only reason she showed was because Barba subpoenaed her and Nick escorted her to the courthouse. As Barba questioned Professor Dobson, he tried to make it clear to the jury that it had been _her_ idea to put Jocelyn as the author and that the fantasies were _hers_ and not Jocelyn's. He did this to help show the jury that what happened to Jocelyn really wasn't something she wanted.

But once again, the defense took to painting Jocelyn as a liar, using Professor Dobson to do it. Rita Calhoun tried to argue that Adam Cain couldn't have known Jocelyn wasn't into it because he thought she was because of the book before she segued to the reason why Dobson chose Jocelyn. Calhoun claimed it was because Jocelyn was a good liar. Of course, Barba objected and Calhoun withdrew, but the jury had already heard the statement and while they were supposed to disregard, unhearing something was impossible.

It was then the defense's turn to call witnesses to the stand. Rita Calhoun's first witness was Adam Cain. And just like they knew he would, he tried to schmooze the jury with his charming personality. He tried to play that he only went along with what Jocelyn wanted. But the thing he said that didn't sit right with JJ was the fact that Cain made an insinuations that he felt bad for actual rape victims and that Jocelyn's false accusation was only going to hurt others. JJ shook her head. It was the perfect PR stunt. Take the focus off himself and make himself look sympathetic for others. Taking advantage of other people's situations. It made her blood boil.

Then before Barba could get his cross-examination in, the judge adjourned the trial for the day because it was getting late. So, the SVU gang followed Barba back to his office. He set his briefcase down on the table and loosened his tie. "The professor didn't help us," Liv said as she leaned against a bookshelf.

"I'm gonna call it a draw," Barba responded as he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

Amanda shook her head. "So, you're an optimist."

"Stubborn," he said with a slight smirk as he removed his suit coat and hung it over the back of a chair.

"You don't say," JJ responded sarcastically as she leaned forward against a chair. His slight smirk then turned into a full smirk. Just then, Fin and Munch walked through the door and Barba's smirk disappeared.

"Ah, the cavalry," he said nodding toward the male detectives.

Munch shook his head. "No luck. All three of his past victims have magically disappeared."

"Of course they have," JJ scoffed as she sat on the chair she had been leaning against. "Men like Cain, men with money, have more than enough money to see that witnesses can conveniently go on vacation around the time of a trial."

"Do you have an issue with men who have money?" Barba questioned.

"No. Hypothetically speaking, there might be an issue with men who have money who do bad things and screw everyone over." Barba raised an eyebrow at JJ. She then responded, "What? You can't fault me for hypotheticals, Counselor."

Barba slightly rolled his eyes at her statement but then Fin spoke, "We can't get into any of Cain's prior bad acts. So, now what?"

The A.D.A. flipped his tie and began to unbutton the cuffs of his sleeves. "Maybe, we can get him to open the door," Barba said before he glanced at the SVU detectives. It was their only hope and maybe, just maybe, a guy like Cain would take the bait.

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

The next day at the trial, it was finally Barba's turn to cross-examine Cain and he was ready. JJ watched from her spot beside Amanda in the gallery. It was kind of a now or never moment. If Barba could get Cain to open the door, the jury would see him for who he was. If he failed, the jury would likely never convict. Not based on Jocelyn and Kathleen Dobson's testimonies

Barba started his cross, seated at the prosecutor's table. He tried to paint that Jocelyn remembered things differently. Cain brought up that Jocelyn was playing a role...like she did when she pretended to be the author of the book. Calhoun had prepared him well. But Barba wasn't going to be outdone. Not yet. "So, she was pretending to be a sexual submissive?" he questioned.

"She just told us that," Cain responded rather confidently.

Barba chuckled. "That's right. That's right," he responded before he stood up from his chair. He buttoned his suit coat as he walked to the front of his table. "She was inexperienced, but you weren't."

"Not entirely," Cain responded.

JJ looked at Amanda and rolled her eyes. It really shouldn't surprise her that Cain would lie on the stand. It was what people in his position did. JJ just hoped Barba could get the jury to see Cain for whom he really was.

Barba then continued. "Mr. Cain, what...excites you about having sex with Jocelyn?"

Cain chuckled his stupid chuckle and smiled that stupid charming smile of his. "What excites anyone about sex?"

JJ shook her head at his response. It was a typical deflect. She glanced at Barba. He had to know that and he did. "Was it the belt?" the A.D.A. asked. Cain looked at Barba slightly puzzled, so Barba clarified. "The belt...that was her idea, even though she was just pretending?"

"She wanted to try role play," Cain responded with a shrug. "Like I said, _her_ idea."

Barba glanced at the jury before glancing at Cain. "How do you start something like that?" Despite the seriousness of the matter, JJ had to cover her mouth to hide the smile that threatened to expose the fact that she found Barba asking that question utterly hilarious.

But Cain didn't find it as funny. No, Cain looked utterly confused at his question. "With the belt?" he asked.

The A.D.A. nodded his head. "Yeah, I mean, do you take your belt off or-" Barba leaned against the stand and gave an awkward chuckle. To which Cain responded that Barba had things right. So, the A.D.A. continued. "And you give her a few hits with it?" He glanced back at Jocelyn whose head was now hung. Cain said that she enjoyed it, which was an obvious lie. "Then you put the belt around her neck?"

"Yes."

"And then you get behind her... tighten it." His words were accompanied by hand gestures as he spoke. Cain agreed that's what happened and that he did so to increase Jocelyn's pleasure.

Amanda leaned and whispered in JJ's ear. "Where the hell is he going with this?"

"Like he told us last night," JJ responded. "He's getting Cain to open the door. We have no prior bad acts on our side. So if the jury sees how... _dominate_ Cain can be, they might make the leap that he's done this before."

But how is he going to get there?"

JJ's brow furrowed as she glanced up at Barba. "Still working on that."

Back on the stand, Cain had no idea why Barba was asking him questions specific to how that kind of sexual game worked. Barba put up a finger to stop him. "Just bear with me. Where was the buckle?" His tone emphasizing the word, _buckle._

"What does that matter?" Amanda whispered to JJ. But JJ just put a finger up for Amanda to hold on one second, much like Barba had done seconds earlier.

Cain rolled his eyes and scoffed, "I don't know if I can be more specific. Would you like me to show you?"

"Well, actually…"

" _That's_ why," JJ said with a smirk on her face turning toward Amanda, but the look on Amanda's face told JJ that her friend was still somewhat confused. JJ understood what had happened. Barba got him to trip. Calhoun immediately objected, which was foreseeable.

Calhoun got to her feet and Barba turned toward her. "As a regular Joe, I'm curious how this belt-around-the neck thing is exciting." Barba then looked at the judge and back to Calhoun. "I am sure, Your Honor, that the jury is curious as well." He gestured toward the jury when he mentioned them.

JJ's heart began to beat faster. If the judge allowed this, Barba had Cain right where he wanted him. While it only took the judge a second to rule that she'd allow it, to JJ, the moment felt like forever. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this exhilarated by a trial. Not since...probably before she became a cop and for a moment, she almost missed _it_.

Calhoun's face after the judge ruled in Barba's favor was priceless. But Barba remained calm. He walked back toward his table and started over, unbuckling his belt and removing it. JJ found herself on the edge of her seat with excitement, her eyes practically glued on Barba. Amanda took notice of JJ's reaction and just smiled, wisely saying nothing...yet.

"You took off your belt," Barba stated and Cain stated that the A.D.A. was correct. "You did it, not her. Correct?" he asked as his belt rested in his hands in front of him. Once again, Cain agreed that the facts added up. Barba nodded his head as he slid the belt through the buckle so that it made a loop. He then showed it to Cain. "You looped the belt like this."

Barba, standing directly in front of the jury, then placed the looped belt around his neck and tightened it so that it loosely fit around his neck. JJ shook her head. _Damn_ this guy was good. He might be an ass, but he was a _good_ ass.

Cain shrugged at the sight of Barba. "Something like that."

The A.D.A. grabbed hold of the end of the belt, which hung down his back and walked toward Cain. "You led her to the bed... got on top, pulled it.:" He gave his belt a little pull for effect.

"The game she wanted to play," Cain reiterated.

:She's the one who wanted it rough?" Barba clarified, despite the fact that Cain had already stated multiple times that it had been Jocelyn. JJ smiled, knowing exactly what he was doing. He was making sure the jury was convinced of Cain's words before he went in for the kill, metaphorically speaking. Before he buried him.

"Yes."

"But you didn't rape her?"

Cain was clearly getting frustrated with Barba. "No, we've gone over this. What don't you get?"

Barba released the belt as he stood directly in front of Cain. "Oh, I get it. It's the classic mindset of the rapist to admit what you can't deny, deny what you can't admit!" Once again, JJ's hands crept over her mouth. Some people liked watching tennis, but if done right, JJ liked watching trials and today-this was one of those trials.

Calhoun called, "Objection!"

The A.D.A. called back, "Withdrawn." Beneath her hands, JJ smirked. The defense may have gotten a zinger in yesterday, but today the prosecution got one. One that the jury wasn't going to forget.

Barba then reached down his back and grabbed the belt again before he turned away from Cain. "You said that she wanted it rough, so show me how she likes it." He wiggled the belt for Cain to grab, but the witness refused to grab the belt. He glanced over at his defense attorney, but Barba continued to taunt him. "Show me, show me. Let me see how she liked it."

:"Objection!" Rita Calhoun demanded.

Barba glanced back at the judge who looked at him and then at Calhoun before looking back at Barba. "Let's proceed cautiously, Mr. Barba." Barba gave a small nod of his head to show he understood.

Still holding onto the belt, Barba took a step backward and held it out for Cain to grab. "All right, take the belt in your hands, Mr. Cain." Rather reluctantly, Cain did as he was told. Weakly, he grabbed hold of the belt, but Barba wasn't done yet. "Feel the leather? Hold the belt," the A.D.A. demanded. Again, rather pathetically, Cain did as he was told.

"Come on," JJ whispered to herself beneath the hands that covered her mouth.

"Now, show me how you pulled on the belt," Barba told him. Cain gave a weak tug on the belt. Barba rolled his eyes. "You can do better than that," Barba scoffed, taunting Cain. JJ nodded her head, knowing full-well _that_ was how you got to men like Cain. You bruise their ego. Cain gave another weak pull on the belt around Barba's neck.

Barba scoffed again. "You call that being dominant?" Show me. Show me!" Barba's words began to increase in volume each time he spoke. "Show me, pull it! Pull it." At this point, the A.D.A. was yelling and JJ was hardly sitting on her seat anymore. "Pull it! Tell me how you like it!"

"Come on," JJ whispered again, this time her hands were resting on the back of the bench in front of her and she was slowly rising from her seat to see over Nick's head.

The A.D.A. only continued to yell as Cain's hand was wrapped around the belt that was looped around Barba's neck "Show me how you like it, Mr. Cain! Come on, pull it, pull it!"

Cain's face contorted in rage. He had had enough "Like this!" he hissed before he placed his free hand on Barba's shoulder and pulled the belt tight. JJ's eyes widened as she found herself standing on her feet watching as Cain continued to choke Barba, whose gasped for air.

Rita Calhoun stood and shouted, "Your Honor!" But Cain continued to pull and Barba continued to gasp for air. His eyes focused on the person standing up in the back. Unknowingly, JJ held her breath as her knuckles turned white from her grasp on the bench in front of her.

"All right, that is enough, Mr. Barba!" the judge shouted and Cain released his grip on the belt. Barba began coughing and JJ shook her head.

"You yell at _him_?" JJ muttered to herself, still standing on her feet. JJ shook her head. It should be the witness she was reprimanding. Granted, Barba got him to go there, but still, it was Cain who had choked Barba...not the other way around.

"Jage, why are you standing?" Amanda whispered, tugging at JJ's arm. Feeling rather embarrassed, JJ looked around to see that Liv was also glancing at her. She quickly sat down and tried to hide her face behind her hair. "Just like basketball, huh?" Amanda chuckled in JJ's ear, which made her blush.

Barba glanced back at the SVU detectives as he slowly walked back toward his table, gently coughing and trying to clear his throat. "Not a mark," Barba said with a slight chuckle as he dropped his belt to the table. "Not a mark. Not. A. Mark." He motioned toward his neck for the jury before he reached for a photograph inside a file folder. "People's exhibit 20. Jocelyn Paley's neck after their consensual sex game." He showed the picture of Jocelyn's neck to the jury. He then turned and showed the picture to Adam Cain. "Is this what excites you about sex, Mr. Cain? Hurting your victims?"

"She liked it like that," Adam Cain said, reiterating the stance he had taken all along.

"You mean Jocelyn?" The A.D.A. asked before he shook his head. _"You_ liked it like that." He placed the picture on the stand in front of Cain before he walked away. "She didn't."

Barba then returned to his table and sat down. He poured himself a glass of water and took a drink to soothe his throat. Amanda nudged JJ. JJ was mortified Amanda was going to ask _why_ she had stood up...but thankfully, she didn't. "Did _you_ learn that at Harvard?" Amanda asked, referring to what Barba had just done with the belt.

JJ shook her head. "I must have been sick that day."

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

Three days later, the jury came back with a verdict. It took the jury longer to decide the outcome than the length of the trial itself. In those three days, JJ hadn't run into Barba once. Granted, she had purposely stayed away from Starbucks and suffered through with the breakroom coffee. For some reason, she just didn't want to see him. Probably because she didn't want to have to explain actions she herself didn't understand.

JJ walked into the courtroom with Liv and Amanda. "Cragen's coming back," Liv said as they slid into the row in front of JJ and Amanda with Jocelyn. "Harris was packing up just before we left to come over here."

"Thank God," Amanda groaned. "I mean, nothing against the guy, but he ain't Cragen."

"No one is," JJ added as the women sat down on the bench.

As the jury walked in and took their places, JJ glanced at the prosecutor, trying to discern what he was thinking. But with his back to them, she couldn't make much of a guess. The judge called things to order and then turned toward the jury. "On the charge of rape in the first degree, how do you find?"

The forewoman stood and announced, 'We find the defendant, Adam Cain, _guilty._ "

JJ breathed a sigh of relief after the verdict before she looked at Cain. He looked in shock, completely baffled that the jury actually convicted him. The judge told the bailiff to take the defendant into custody. JJ then glanced at Barba. She saw as the A.D.A. looked at Cain. He turned to the front for a moment before he glanced over his shoulder, their way. JJ and Barba made immediate eye contact and he nodded his head. And for reasons she couldn't control, JJ softly smiled at him as he turned back around.

Amanda leaned over and whispered, "He so just gave you _the nod_."

JJ rolled her eyes. "He gave _us_ a nod in our general direction," she said motioning between the two of them and Liv in front of them. "He was letting us know that _we_ did it. It was literally a nod to us. That's it."

"If you say so."

"I do. Why are you so hell-bent on this?"

Amanda put her hands up in defense. "Whoa. I'm not."

"Good."

But she wasn't prepared to drop it just yet. "I just think there might be something there."

"Um-no. Besides, even _if_ I was interested, which I most definitely am not, you and I both saw what happened last year." JJ glanced at Liv and then back to Amanda. Both had been at SVU to see the fallout from Liv's relationship with E.A.D.A. David Haden.

Amanda sighed. "Can I at least set you up with a buddy of mine? You need to get out more."

"If it will get you off my case about Barba, then fine."

* * *

~*~ Dun Dun~*~

* * *

When JJ's shift had finished, she found herself at the D.A.'s office instead of her apartment. She carried the largest coffee cup Starbucks had available in her hand as she took the elevator to the floor where Barba's office was located. Despite the fact that he had a victory today, he was still working rather late. He probably felt that since he was new, he had some ground to make up to put himself on a level playing field with the other D.A.'s.

Once again, she stood in the threshold of his door and he didn't notice her. So, she cleared her throat and he glanced her way once more. He smirked. "Detective Jacobs, come to congratulate me? Thank me?"

JJ shook her head. "No. You knew you had it after Cain choked you."

"I had an inkling."

"Come on now, you don't strike me as the humble type. You knew."

Barba looked to be fighting her words for a moment before he finally nodded. 'I knew." JJ nodded her head. "So why did you come? To point out my faults?"

JJ gently lifted the Starbucks coffee cup in her hands and he motioned for her to come in. She walked very carefully, not to bounce the cup around too much. As she approached his desk, he said, "So you'll still owe me one cup." He reached out to accept the cup from her, but she held a finger out to stop him.

She then quickly removed the lid from the cup and dumped its contents on his desk. Only, there wasn't coffee inside the cup. The cup had been filled with spare change she had collected from Munch, Liv, Nick, Amanda, and Fin, as well as her own. Barba stared down as his desk, which was now covered in change and JJ smirked. "Your _exact_ change is somewhere in there," she said, trying very hard to not start laughing from the expression of shock on his face. "Pick out what you need. Then you have my permission to donate the rest of it to a charity of your choosing in my name. I'm pretty sure that shouldn't be an issue. Have a good night."

With that, JJ bolted from the room before he could even get a single word in. Amanda was waiting for her in the elevator. When the doors closed, JJ collapsed against the elevator wall in a fit of giggles. "Oh, my god. You should have seen his face! It was priceless. I cannot believe I let you talk me into doing that!"

Amanda just smiled. She knew there was something between JJ and Barba and it was only a matter of time before things finally came to a head, even with her friend's objections.

* * *

 **Author's note: Phew! That was a long one! Part of the reason it took a little longer to update. The response to this story has absolutely blown me away. Seriously! I never imagined such a response! Thank you! Thank you! I have a tumblr where I post edits and such missjanuarylily. Also, there is a trailer for SWBL. You can find it on my profile page! Thanks again!**


	3. New York Interlude

**New York Interlude**

 _Dedicated to: tooclosefortety & anonymous friends on Tumblr! Thanks for your ideas!_

* * *

Monday, August 20th

JJ caved. It had been a few days since the change dump on Barba's desk and she had been avoiding Starbucks like the plague, but she couldn't handle anymore of Nick's coffee at the precinct. She just couldn't do it, especially on a Monday. So, once again, she waited in line at Starbucks, fully anticipating some sort of run-in with Rafael Barba. It just seemed rather inevitable.

As she stood there waiting, she continually glanced over her shoulder, looking for him. She wasn't sure _why_ she did it. She just did. It wasn't like she was particularly fond of the guy, but he had a way of sneaking up on her when she least expected him. JJ wanted to be ready for him. But again, she wasn't sure _why_.

JJ finally approached Brooke, the barista, and flashed her a smile. But Brooke didn't smile back. "Good morning," JJ offered.

But Brooke lamely responded, "Morning."

The SVU detective arched an eyebrow at the barista. She didn't need her honed detective skills to tell her that something was off. That much was quite obvious. JJ rolled her shoulders back and stood a little taller, but she said nothing about the barista's demeanor. She just wanted to get her coffee and get to work as quickly as possible, hopefully missing an encounter with _him_.

JJ ordered her Trenta iced coffee and walked toward the pickup section. So far so good. No run-in. The blonde detective ran her fingers through her long blonde-hair and pulled it off to one shoulder to get it off her neck. While the streak over 90 had snapped, it was in the 80s and humid. Humidity made everything worse.

Brooke approached with JJ's iced coffee. The barista pushed the drink across the counter. "What did you do to him?" Brooke asked.

"Ex-excuse me?" JJ stammered.

"Rafael. He hasn't been in here in over a week and I assume it has something to do with you." Brooke looked at JJ pointedly and folded her arms across her chest. "You're kinda an ass toward him and I take offense because he's my best tipper...or at least he _was._ "

JJ arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think that _I'm_ the reason. Maybe he's just saving money."

"I saw you both on TV with the Jocelyn Paley case. You obviously see him outside of here, which I can only imagine how you are with him."

JJ placed her hand around her drink. "Have you ever considered becoming a detective?" she asked, trying to make light of the situation. JJ tried to pull her coffee toward her, but Brooke kept a grip on the drink too. The blonde detective groaned, "You do realize that I haven't been here in awhile either. You ever think that maybe _he_ was the one who did something."

Brooke shrugged. "Yeah, but he tips, quite well actually. You don't."

JJ released the cup and held her hands up in defense for a moment. She reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet. Ever since the first mishap, she now made sure to have some cash on her at all times. JJ pulled a twenty-dollar bill from her wallet and showed it to Brooke. She then walked it over to the tip jar, making her movements quite obvious. She dropped the twenty into the jar and then walked back over to Brooke.

The blonde detective grabbed her coffee and turned on her heel to walk out the door. JJ was almost to the door when Brooke called out, "Fix this!" JJ rolled her eyes and headed out the door. She glanced down at the watch on her wrist and made a decision she was sure she was going to regret.

As JJ approached the District Attorney's office, she found Rafael Barba standing in line at a coffee kiosk outside. She awkwardly jogged toward him, trying to carefully hold her coffee so that she didn't spill it. He didn't notice her because his eyes were glued to his phone. She approached him from behind and cleared her throat. He didn't move.

"Barba," JJ groaned.

He quickly turned around, elbowing the iced coffee in her hand. JJ watched with wide eyes as her coffee inched toward the ground before he practically exploded. The coffee splattered over both the detective and the district attorney. Barba wiped the coffee off his phone and then pocketed it before his attention turned to JJ.

"Detective," he greeted. "Thanks for the-uh- _greeting_." His tone was laced with sarcasm as he tried to wipe drops of coffee from his tie. "To what do I owe the-uh- _pleasure?_ "

JJ rolled her eyes. "You're coming with me," she reached for his arm and began tugging him along.

"What do you think you're doing, Detective?" Barba asked, while not putting up much of a fight and following slowly behind her. "People are watching."

"We're going to Starbucks where first you will tell Brooke, the barista, that you are choosing not to buy your morning coffee there of your free volition and not because I have coerced you in any way, shape, or form. That you buying the mediocre coffee from the kiosk has nothing to do with me."

Barba looked at her curiously. "And what if it does?" he asked, attempting to draw her into a game of Devil's Advocate.

JJ came to a sudden stop. "You've got to be kidding me."

Barba arched an eyebrow and gestured at her. "Says the crazy detective who is unlawfully detaining me."

JJ's bottom lip jutted out a little as she folded her arms across her chest and attempted her best puppy-dog eyed expression. "Please, Barba," JJ whined. "You need to fix this. I can't keep drinking Amaro's crappy excuse for coffee and I have a feeling things are only gonna get worse with Brooke if you don't intervene."

He scoffed and shook his head. "You're letting a barista intimidate you? You, an NYPD SVU detective. Seriously?"

"It's really in your best interest," JJ tried to rationalize to him, ignoring his comments. "I'll do much more efficient work if I don't drink Amaro's coffee, which will mean that I'll make your job like a hundred times easier."

Barba shook his head. "I think you're overvaluing yourself."

JJ arched an eyebrow at him. "If you wanna win cases, you need me at my best. Plain and simple."

He rolled his eyes and smoothed out his coffee-stained tie. "Fine," he grumbled as they started to walk in the direction of Starbucks once more. "But what else do you need?"

"Huh?" JJ questioned with a furrowed brow.

He looked at her incredulously and rolled his eyes. "You said _first_ I need to talk to Brooke. That would imply there is something else."

JJ bit her bottom lip and looked at him rather innocently. "Well, I am now coffeeless, thanks to you." She forced a smile, trying her hardest to persuade him, but clearly she had no effect on him...at least not that she could see.

Barba shook his head. "That's your own damn fault for sneaking up on me."

She glanced at him rather incredulously. "Your coffee better watch out the next time you sneak up on me."

"Are you threatening my coffee?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"You can try and see if a judge will grant it a restraining order," JJ suggested continuing the banter.

He chuckled. "I'm sure I could get a jury to buy an excessive force claim. Police brutality."

JJ shook her head. She knew he was just messing with her, but she wasn't about to let him have this one. "Then you might want to make sure I don't end up on the stand. They might sympathize with my self-defense claim. Reasonable doubt. Hit and sunk. Game over."

Barba glanced at JJ, trying to hide his amusement. "That'll be for a jury to decide," he said rather seriously before his face broke into a grin.

JJ glanced back at him and smirked. "And until then, I'm just sayin' that your coffee better watch its back."

"I'll be sure to let it know," he stated rather sarcastically just before they approached Starbucks. In all honesty, their banter amused him. Most people he encountered couldn't keep up with him. But there was something different about her. He could easily get to her, but then she could also go blow for blow with him. Not that it really mattered of course. He was still new to the Manhattan D.A.'s office. _That_ was his focus. It had to be.

Barba opened the door and held it open for a moment, expecting JJ to walk through but she didn't. "You coming in?" he asked.

The detective shook her head. "I don't want to be accused of coercion."

Barba raised an eyebrow. "But that's _exactly_ what you're doing."

JJ folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah, but _she_ doesn't have to know that."

He looked at JJ rather pointedly before he shook his head and walked into the Starbucks. JJ stood outside, leaning against the building. Occasionally, she would glance inside to see what Barba was up to, but she more or less felt like one of those Walmart greeters, except for Starbucks. After what seemed like an eternity, Barba finally walked out sipping his coffee and carrying another drink in his hand.

JJ looked rather gobsmacked that he had actually had gotten her something. "You-you bought me something," she stammered.

"Well, technically, _you_ bought your coffee," Barba said as he handed her the iced coffee drink. "And there's still plenty left to donate to that charity of my choice."

She took a sip of her coffee. "So, is everything good with Brooke?" Barba smirked and sipped his coffee. He turned on his heel and began to walk away. "Barba! Barba? Dammit Barba! You need to tell me."

"Immaterial, Detective Jacobs." He didn't even look back at her as he waved and spoke those words. He just continued to walk away.

"Ass," JJ grumbled under her breath before she headed for the precinct.

* * *

Thursday, August 23rd

The Manhattan District Attorney's office was a zoo as Detective Jacobs strolled inside. Although, one could probably always say that about the building, but today it seemed even worse than usual. Today, it seemed even worse than the precinct which was quite a feat of itself. JJ's flats clicked against the floor beneath her as she made her way to the elevator. When she reached the elevator, it was practically overflowing with people. So, she decided that she would just wait for the next one. She didn't need to get upstairs _that_ desperately.

So, she pressed the up arrow and waited for the next elevator to arrive. While she waited, she pulled out her phone so that she wasn't awkwardly standing there. The next elevator sounded before it opened. Without looking up from her phone, she walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the floor she needed to visit. She then slowly backed up to the back wall, but she felt like someone was watching her. Slowly, she turned her head to find A.D.A. Rafael Barba standing to her right looking rather amused.

"Where the hell…" JJ began with a confused expression on her face, not expecting him to be there despite the fact she was in the building where he worked.

"Close," Barba said with his signature smirk. "But I'm actually coming from the basement, which some easily confused with hell, not that I blame them because the two are quite similar."

JJ simply stared at him blankly, at a loss for words. That made him laugh for a moment. "Here to see me, Detective?" he asked a few seconds later.

It took JJ a moment to regain her senses. She slid her phone back into her pocket and fiddled with the necklace chain around her neck. "Actually, no," she said evenly, trying to give him no further hints of how much he had rattled her.

Barba arched an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

JJ rolled her eyes. "This is the District Attorney's Office. There are other A.D.A.'s beside you, Barba."

"Huh. And which one are you here to see?"

"None of your business," JJ retorted. He glanced at her knowingly and she groaned before she finally coughed-up a name, "Callier."

While holding a stack of manilla folders in one arm, he shoved his other hand into his pocket. "Ah, must be a _minor_ case then. One I'm sure Callier should be able to handle and doesn't require my _expertise_."

She looked at him rather incredulously and shook her head. "Arrogant much?"

He glanced at her for a moment and smirked. "Someone's gotta be around here."

"Harris was right. You do have big, brass... _ego."_ JJ shook her head and turned to glance up at the elevator numbers. They still had a floor to go. This seemed to be the elevator ride from hell. Thankfully, Barba didn't say anything. He just stood there, nodded his head a couple of times, and then also glanced up at the floor numbers.

The elevator doors finally dinged and opened. They both moved to escape the elevator, but then they both awkwardly stopped when they realized that they were both trying to leave. Barba motioned with his free hand for her to go but JJ groaned, "Go ahead."

Not wanting to waste any more time on the elevator than necessary, Barba rolled his eyes and walked off the elevator. Barba was only a few steps into the hallway when he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at JJ. "You should swing by my office when you're done. There's a receipt for your charity donation made in your name on my desk."

"Where did you donate it?" she questioned, while still standing on the elevator.

He smirked. "Some International Save the Alpaca charity thing."

"You what?" she screeched as the elevator doors closed on her. JJ quickly pressed the open button on the elevator, but it was already headed back downstairs before she pressed it.

So JJ rode the elevator back down to the main floor and then back up to the office floor. Once she was back on the right floor she visited A.D.A. Collier about a _minor_ case before she marched over to Barba's office. Carmen his secretary sat at her desk and glanced up from her computer as JJ walked closer. "Mr. Barba's out for a moment. You can wait out here, unless you're Detective Jacobs. Then he said there's something for you on his desk."

JJ flashed her badge at Barba's secretary before she walked into his office. Sure enough, there was a receipt on his desk for her. But it wasn't for an alpaca thing as he had claimed. He had donated the change...and then some...to a women's shelter nearby. JJ softly smiled. Even when the man did something nice, he was still an ass about it.

* * *

Friday, August 31st

Inside a busy New York City restaurant, JJ shifted uncomfortably in her chair. The SVU detective wasn't sure whether it was the dress that hugged her curves or her nerves that created the feeling, but it existed nonetheless. Which in hindsight seemed rather stupid. She could take down some of New York's biggest dirtbags without flinching but when it came to the matter of a blind date _that_ terrified the hell out of her. She never should have agreed to go out with some guy Amanda knew, but meeting men outside of work for her was practically impossible.

JJ pulled her iPhone from her purse and checked the time. Thirty minutes. The guy was thirty minutes late. She supposed that given NYC traffic that being thirty minutes late wasn't completely out of the question, but she had a gut feeling that the guy wasn't just late. Hoping that she was wrong, she opened her text messages to be sure that she hadn't missed a message from Mark, but there was nothing new. With a sigh, she slipped her phone back into her purse before she reached for her near-empty glass of water.

Stood up. _Again_. The third time in the last four months. The frequency was ridiculous, but she had a feeling it likely had something to do with the gun and badge she carried. After taking another sip of water she noticed a familiar face in her peripheral vision. A.D.A Rafael Barba was seated at a booth across the restaurant. The new A.D.A. had made a lateral move from the Brooklyn D.A.'s office and a lot of SVU's cases were sent his way. He was something of a bulldog the way he went after cases. While that was exactly what they needed for someone trying their cases, JJ wasn't sure she liked him at all.

Glancing once more, she noticed that he too was alone, but she quickly looked away when his glance turned toward her. JJ attempted to shield her face with her long hair, hoping that maybe he wouldn't notice her. As if it wasn't embarrassing enough to be stood up, knowing that the Barba was there to witness her embarrassment made it worse. She probably should just get up and leave, but she really was hungry and the refrigerator and her cupboards at home were empty. She wasn't much of a cook. Her diet usually consisted of fast food or food that required no prepping. The appeal of a cooked meal was just too much for her.

When the waiter came back, she ordered a filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus, and a glass of wine. He came right back with her wine, for which she was thankful. If there was ever a night she needed a glass of wine, tonight was that night. As JJ took a sip of her wine, her eyes glanced back toward Barba's table, but she was surprised to see that his table was empty. She blew a sigh of relief. He must have left, saving her further embarrassment. JJ took another sip of wine.

"Don't worry, I didn't leave, Detective Jacobs," a familiar voice said from behind her, the timbre of his voice sending shivers up her spine. "I'm right behind you."

In shock, JJ's wine dribbled from her mouth and into her glass before she quickly turned around to see Barba standing behind her with a smirk on his face and a glass of an alcoholic beverage in his hand. Wearing a smug expression, he took a sip of his beverage. "Yes, Barba?" JJ asked, setting her glass on the table.

"Just figured I'd come say hi," he responded, his tone giving away that this was more than just a friendly hello.

JJ shook her head and glanced at the floor before she looked back up at him. "Well, _hi_."

Barba took another sip of his drink before he said rather flatly. "How late is he?"

"Excuse me?" JJ scoffed, appalled by his boldness.

Knowing he must have struck a nerve, Barba hid a smirk before he said, "Your date. How late is he?"

She rolled her eyes, but she knew he wouldn't leave her alone until she offered the information. So, she responded, "Last time I checked it was thirty minutes."

He glanced down at his watch. "That was about ten minutes ago making it about forty minutes now. He's standing you up." Barba looked back at JJ and she shook her head.

"Wow, nice work detective." She paused for a moment as he raised an eyebrow before she continued. "Hang on, that's _my_ job, not yours." She reached for her glass of wine and took a sip as he nodded his head with a slight smile. She then glanced back at his table before looking at him again. "Besides, I have a hunch we're in the same boat."

Barba eyed her curiously for a moment before he smoothly responded, redirecting, "How about I forget your accusation and I join you to save you from further embarrassment." She could hardly believe him, but he didn't wait for her to respond as he sat down in the chair across from her. He took a sip of his scotch as she shook her head at him. He arched an eyebrow. "What? Objection?"

"I said nothing, Counselor."

He leaned back a bit in his chair and watched her for a moment. "And sometimes nothing can say more, Detective."

"Well, I'm glad you learned something at law school."

He seemed to take her comeback in stride before he responded, "And your witty retorts a product of the academy then?"

"Maybe, but you're not the only one who went to Harvard, Counselor," JJ smirked as Barba arched an eyebrow at her in surprise. "Didn't do all your homework on your detectives, did you?"

He was about to question her further when the waiter came back with JJ's plate of food. Instead of pressing JJ, Barba simply asked the waiter if his food could be brought to the table he currently sat at. The waiter turned toward JJ and said, "Is that alright with you? If this guy is bothering you we can make him leave and go back to his table."

JJ smirked at Barba who looked somewhat surprised by the waiter's actions. She then turned toward the waiter who stood there rather imposingly. "It's fine…" JJ trailed off for a moment as she looked for the guy's name tag. "Eric. He's not bothering me. I know him from work."

"If he gives you any trouble ma'am, you just let me know."

Looking straight at Barba, JJ responded, "Oh, I will. Thank you. Eric."

As the waiter walked away, Barba shook his head while JJ smirked at him as she took a quite bite of her mashed potatoes. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

JJ wiped at her mouth with her napkin before she responded, "You must have pissed Eric off. Not really that surprising, given that you're you."

He slightly narrowed his eyes. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

She shook her head and chuckled. "Oh, come on, you _know_ you're an ass."

Barba raised an eyebrow and then took a sip of his scotch. "Only when I have to be."

"Which is like 99% percent of the time."

He shrugged his shoulders and pondered her comment for a moment. "I'd say that number is a little high, but it's close enough."

JJ laughed. If there was one redeeming quality in Barba it was probably his honesty. His brutal honesty. She cut into her meat as Barba drummed his fingers against the table. The waiter finally returned with his salad. JJ couldn't help but laugh as Barba took a bite of his food. She found the comparison from her meal to his humorous.

Barba must have deduced why she was laughing before he said, "I happen to like salads."

"I know you're not under oath, but there's no reason to lie." JJ stabbed her fork at a cut piece of meat before she slipped it into her mouth and chewed.

He raised an eyebrow at her before he did something that surprised her. He reached his fork across the table, stabbed at a piece of her filet mignon, and then popped it into his mouth. JJ sat there rather flabbergasted as he chewed. After he swallowed, he looked at her and said, "Happy?"

"Why don't you just help yourself to some potatoes while you're at it," JJ said sarcastically. Barba shrugged before he scooped up a forkful of potatoes and ate those too. "I wasn't serious," she gasped pulling her plate closer toward her.

"They could use some more butter," Barba said savoring his last bit of potatoes before he took a sip of his drink.

They amicably finished their meals together. When Eric came back with the check, he didn't split them. Instead, he handed the folder of a single check to Barba. Eric glared at Barba for a moment, daring him to challenge him but Barba just motioned him to leave with his hand.

JJ asked and held her hand out for the check, "How much do I owe?"

"I got it," Barba said eyeing the check before he muttered. "That's a ridiculous price for mediocre potatoes."

JJ groaned. "I can pay for my own meal, you know. I do happen to have money on me. Card and cash this time."

Barba looked at JJ for a moment before he nodded his head and took his wallet out of his pocket. "Good to know. But if I pay for your meal, then maybe Eric will be nicer to me in the future." He placed his credit card in the folder with the check.

"I wouldn't count on it," JJ chuckled.

He smirked. "You're probably right. But I helped with Brooke, didn't I?"

JJ rolled her eyes at him before she stood and grabbed her coat from the back of the chair. She put it on and swung her purse over her shoulder. "I'd say it was nice to see you, but I think we both know better," JJ said somewhat sarcastically.

Barba chuckled and gave her a nod before she walked away, leaving him watching her walk away. He had to admit to himself that she _did_ look nice and that whatever guy stood her up was definitely an idiot. But dinner with her left him with more questions than answers.

* * *

Tuesday, September 4th

JJ sat at her desk in the 16th precinct filling out bureaucratic paperwork when her phone buzzed. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked to see that she had a text from Barba: **My office. ASAP.**

JJ stared rather blankly at her phone before she turned toward Amanda's desk. "Psst," JJ said to get Amanda's attention. The other blond detective looked away from her computer and at JJ. "Have we gotten the D.A.'s office in on the Sturgis case yet?"

Amanda's brow furrowed. "Not that I'm aware of. Why?"

JJ motioned for her friend toward her with her finger. When Amanda reached JJ's desk, the phone exchanged hands. Amanda glanced at the text and smirked before handing the phone back to JJ. "Why does Barba want to see you?"

"Do you think I'd be showing you this if I knew?"

"Fair point. Maybe, he really enjoyed your dinner the other night."

JJ groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about that. I never should have called you that night."

"But you did." The smirk didn't fade from Amanda's face.

"If your _friend_ would have shown up, it never would have happened."

"Kismet," Amanda said with a shrug which made JJ roll her eyes. The thought of _that_ being destiny or fate was laughable and ridiculous. It was dinner. That was all. It almost seemed as if Amanda were happy that her friend had stood JJ up.

JJ slid her phone into her pocket and then stood. "I'm gonna take my lunch."

"And visit Barba?" Given Amanda's tone, it appeared she was quite amused by the situation, unlike the other blonde detective.

JJ rolled her eyes. " _And visit Barba_ ," she groaned, repeating Amanda's words sullenly.

After telling Captain Cragen where she was going, JJ trekked from the 16th precinct to the Manhattan District Attorney's office. It always felt a little weird walking into the D.A.'s office building. It almost made her feel guilty. Almost. That she had betrayed everyone and everything for a life that wasn't supposed to be hers. But of course, those were all just feelings from the past she suppressed. A past that she tried very hard to keep buried.

As she approached Barba's office, Carmen, his secretary noticed JJ immediately. "He's waiting for you," the woman said before glancing back at her computer screen. JJ stopped for a moment and stared at Carmen. _That_ wasn't a good sign. No, it was rather ominous. But the secretary said nothing more.

So, JJ slowly approached Barba's office. Like usual, he was seated at his desk, busily shuffling through papers and snacking on something or another. She bit her bottom lip before she knocked on the door. He glanced up at her and nodded his head, acknowledging her presence.

"You asked to see me?" JJ said, holding up her phone.

Barba wiped his hands together and nodded his head. "Close the door please," he commanded.

JJ glanced at him rather curiously. For a moment, she felt like she was about to be reprimanded for something. Almost like going to the principal's office at school. But she did as she was asked. She turned and shut the door behind her. She stood there for a moment staring at him before he motioned her to come forward and have a seat. So, she did. "Barba, what's this about?" she asked as she sat down in the chair across from his desk.

He glanced up at her and shuffled through a few more papers before he said, "Detective Jacobs answer me this, how does a Harvard Law School graduate who passed the New York state bar and was offered a position at a prestigious law firm end up an SVU detective?"

JJ blinked slowly. _Not_ what she had been expecting. Absently, she reached for the necklace around her neck. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Barba shot her a rather pointed look. "I want to know how someone who graduated second in their class at Harvard, likely passed the bar exam in their sleep, and was offered a position at probably the best law firm in New York City, ended a promising law career for one in law enforcement."

She shifted rather uncomfortably in her seat. "It looks like you've done some digging, Counselor."

"I must confess that I underestimated you, Detective. Then again, you weren't exactly forthcoming." He set the papers on his desk, cocking his head a little as he looked at her.

JJ shrugged her shoulders. "You made assumptions I chose not to correct."

"We graduated from the same alma mater. Something most people would have corrected."

"But I chose not to."

Barba then picked the stack of papers back up and began rifling through them. "Now, I have spent most of the weekend finding out what I can about you, but there's something missing and I want to know what."

"Why?"

"You're one of my detectives. I have a right to know."

JJ shook her head. "No, actually, you don't. And you _know_ that."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because it's personal and it's not something I disclose _like this_. But all you need to know is that whatever my reason is, it hasn't and it won't affect my professionalism and should my situation lead to a case being compromised, you have my word that I will recuse myself."

"So...you're _not_ going to tell me."

She shook her head. "Not at this moment. No. We go through A.D.A.'s like toilet paper."

Barba pondered her words for a moment and nodded his head, wisely saying nothing more on the subject. Backing her into a corner wasn't going to win him any favors. He sighed before he spoke again. "How's Captain Cragen doing back at SVU?"

"Fine. He's fine," JJ responded rather curtly before she stood. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm on my lunch right now and if _that's_ all you wanted, I'd prefer to spend my time actually eating lunch." Without waiting for his response, JJ quickly turned on her heel and strode out of Barba's office.

* * *

Thursday, September 13th

Inside a lecture hall at Hudson University, JJ sat with the side table top pulled out. Her coffee cup sat on top of it beside a chocolate chip bagel and pad of paper with a pen. She had been given time off to attend a seminar. While she had already been a detective at SVU for over two years and at another division for several years before that, she always felt at a disadvantage for having studied law prior to joining the force. She always felt like she was making up for lost time, which she knew was stupid, but she couldn't help herself from thinking it.

Quietly, JJ drummed her pen against the pad of paper and pulled her phone out to see she had a text from Munch. _**Come back. Fin's already at it. Death imminent.**_

JJ chuckled and texted back: _ **John, you can survive one day without me.**_

 _ **No, I cannot. I am putting a note in my pocket that lists you as an accessory to my murder.**_

 _ **K. Have fun with that.**_

JJ shook her head and slipped her phone back into her pocket. She was just about to take a bite of her bagel, when a familiar voice greeted, "Detective Jacobs."

The blonde detective groaned and then noticed the familiar face to her right: A.D.A. Rafael Barba. "You've gotta be kidding me," JJ groaned. She certainly wasn't happy to see him. Especially not after how things had gone down in his office last week. In fact, she was pretty sure that he was the last person she wanted to see.

Barba left one seat between them as he took a seat to her right. JJ then quickly took her phone out again and texted Munch: **Barba's here. Pretty sure I've got it worse. Kill me now.**

JJ then pocketed her phone once more as Barba glanced at her curiously. "Who are you texting?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Not that it's any of your business, but my partner had a work related thing."

Barba eyed her curiously. "Munch? Is there something going on between you two?"

JJ laughed so hard that she snorted. "You think I'm dating Munch? Oh my God." She paused for a moment to laugh some more. "He's old enough to be my father."

"Hey, I don't judge," Barba said with his hands raised. "Unless it breaks the law and even then, it's just my job to show the evidence." JJ rolled her eyes and ignored him and any of his attempts at conversation for the rest of the seminar.

* * *

Saturday, September 22nd

Surprisingly, JJ had a Saturday morning off. The first time in what seemed like forever. It seemed like she rarely got the day off anymore. She just hoped having today off didn't jeopardize her chances of getting another Saturday off in two weeks. Needing her morning caffeine, JJ decided to head to a Barnes and Noble with a Starbucks inside. She was getting tired of running into Rafael Barba almost every morning at their usual Starbucks, but she was too stubborn to change her routine before work. Thank goodness today was not a work day, so she was free to go wherever she wanted and not feel like she was messing with a routine.

JJ walked to the bookstore, needing to get _some_ exercise in. She was glad to see that there wasn't a line inside for Starbucks. So, she quickly got her order and went to browse the book section. She hadn't read much lately. In fact, she had done more writing than reading recently. But today seemed like a good day to sit down with a good book in the park.

She walked up and down the rows and rows of bookcases, hoping to find something that looked interesting...or at least _somewhat_ interesting. JJ eventually found herself at the new release section. She reached for the last copy of a book when a hand snatched it before she could grab it. JJ turned to find that it was none other than Rafael Barba. She groaned. It seemed like she couldn't catch a break from the guy.

"Detective Jacobs," Barba greeted.

"Barba," JJ grumbled.

"So, have you taken to stalking the A.D.A.? Barba asked rather smugly. "If so, that's a little concerning."

"If asshole your default setting?" JJ scoffed, her ponytail shaking behind her.

He shrugged his shoulders and JJ rolled her eyes. She put her hands up in defense. "You know what. Forget it. I don't actually want a book." She quickly turned on her heel and walked away from him, headed for Central Park _without_ a book to read. It looked like she just needed a place to find some solace.

* * *

Saturday, October 6th

JJ's blue Toyota Corolla sped down the highway through Long Island. Her window was down and the wind whipped through her long blonde hair. She knew that she was going to have to brush it when she was done driving, but there was something about wind blowing through one's hair that brought an odd sense of serenity.

She was headed to the Hamptons for a wedding at some popular vineyard. JJ was attending the ceremony for her former Harvard R.A., whom she had grown close to during her Harvard years. Erin had been a few years above JJ and she was marrying some guy named Hank, who was a few years ahead of her. Erin was one of the few people, outside of work, who actually knew most of JJ's past and they kept somewhat in touch over the years. Sure they weren't as close as they used to be, but she was almost like a big sister to JJ. Erin now worked at some law firm that dealt with business litigation for big companies. That was where she had met Hank.

JJ had met Hank on several occasions and she knew that he was devoted to Erin, but the older JJ got, the harder weddings got. They always seemed to be more of a reminder of what she didn't have and so desperately wanted, but never would have. But for Erin, she'd do this. There weren't many others she would.

When her GPS told her that she was ten minutes from the venue, JJ pulled into the first gas station she could find. She fueled her car, so that she was actually paying for something, before she carried her garment bag and into the bathroom. She quickly changed out of her sweats and into the curve-hugging navy blue dress. Then she moved onto the hair. After dragging a brush through it she put plaited it into a waterfall braid. She dabbed on some makeup and glanced in the mirror. It would have to do. Besides, it wasn't like there was going to be anyone at this wedding she wanted to impress.

After getting back in the car, JJ drove the final distance to the vineyard. She was early, but she had planned on being early. She wanted to help her friend with any last minute details. She quickly exchanged her flip flops for a strappy pair of heels and exited the car. It took her a few steps to adjust to walking in the heels before she finally managed to walk in them without tripping. Heels weren't part of her everyday wardrobe.

It was Erin who first spotted her. She came running out of nowhere, hair and makeup already done, but dressed in a zip-up hoodie and jeans. Erin threw her arms around the blonde detective. "I'm so glad you made it, JJ," Erin said as she embraced JJ.

"Me too," JJ admitted, hugging her friend back. "I almost thought I was gonna have to work this weekend. Thank God for Captain Cragen being the world's most understanding boss."

Erin released JJ and gave her a half smile.. "I must confess, I was disappointed when you said you couldn't be a bridesmaid because work reasons. And believe me I understood, you didn't want to commit and then be forced to bail at the last minute which probably would have been worse. But honestly, I'm just glad you're here. Hank knows this guy…"

"No," JJ groaned, throwing her head back. "Please don't try to set me up. I'm here for _you_ not for me."

Erin sighed, looking somewhat disappointed. "Fine. But I'm not changing the seating arrangement _again_. He's at your table. Talk to him. Don't talk to him. I don't care."

JJ folded her arms across her chest and glanced at her friend. "Yes, you do."

"A little," Erin admitted, giving her friend a slight puppy-dog face, sticking her bottom lip out a bit.

JJ caved. It wasn't that she actually wanted to hook-up with the guy. But she wanted to make Erin happy, especially on her wedding day. Damn people pleasing. "Oh, fine. What do you know about this guy?"

Erin grinned as she looped her arm through JJ's and they walked inside. "I've never actually met him. He was one of Hank's roommates during law school. Hank says he's a little rough around the edges, but he thinks this guy is really great once you get to know him. He's even in the city too, you know if something were to carry on afterward."

"Sounds like quite the catch," JJ scoffed sarcastically. She knew her friend was simply trying to be just that, a friend. But the likelihood of JJ and this guy actually hitting it off were slim to none. Besides, she knew better than to get her hopes up. Set-ups never worked.

"JJ," Erin groaned.

JJ sighed. "I'll do it. But only for you. Consider it your wedding present."

Erin smiled and nodded. She then turned to look at JJ. "Come. Help me finish getting ready."

The wedding ceremony was held outside. It was a beautiful ceremony. Erin and Hank looked so happy up there. Part of JJ couldn't help but wish that someday that would be her, but she knew it was useless to hope for that. No one could possibly want someone as damaged as she was. She absently reached for her necklace and toyed with it between her fingers, like she always did whenever thoughts of her past invaded her mind.

When the ceremony was over, Erin and Hank walked down the aisle toward them, hand in hand with their faces beaming with happiness. The guests stood and clapped, watching them walk down the aisle. But JJ was so lost in thought that she didn't see the familiar person across the aisle spot her with a curious expression on his face.

JJ's feet were killing her as she leaned against one of the small cocktail tables set up near the bar. She slipped her heels off and felt the grass between her toes as she sipped on a glass of wine. It would still be some time until dinner. The wedding party was off taking pictures. JJ just hoped Erin remembered the one wedding they attended where they waited 3 hours for dinner and everyone ate the wedding cupcakes because they were so damn hungry.

A waiter walked by with something bacon wrapped and JJ quickly snatched a few. She had just popped one in her mouth when she realized she was no longer alone at the table. "Detective Jacobs," the man greeted. JJ looked up to find that Rafael Barba was standing across from her. Literally the last person she expected to see. She accidentally swallowed the bacon-wrapped food in her mouth and choked a little. JJ grabbed her glass of wine and drank a little to wash down the lump in her throat. She coughed a few times. Her eyes watered a little, but she held her hand up to indicate she was fine. When JJ was breathing normally, he smiled and asked, "Bride or groom?"

"Bride," JJ responded rather curtly, still not over the meeting in his office where he demanded to know about her past. Although, it had been over month since that encounter and they had run into each other many other times. But this day wasn't about her. She didn't want to make a scene at Erin's wedding. She sighed. "You?"

"Groom," Barba said. He swished the liquid in his glass. "You come out this morning?"

JJ nodded her head, "Yeah, I drove out this morning. One of the few drives I actually enjoy. You?"

Barba shook his head. "I took the train out last night for a guy thing." They made eye contact and Barba rolled his eyes.

The blonde arched an eyebrow curiously. "Oh? And how did that go?"

He glanced down at his drink and then looked up at JJ with a slight smirk on his face. "Just as one would expect something like that to go."

That made JJ laugh. "That bad, huh?"

"I'm surprised the best man is even upright," he laughed and then took a sip of his drink. "And I even left early. Who knows how much more he drank after that."

JJ shook her head and softly smiled. "Poor guy."

"More like his poor wife," Barba chuckled.

A few minutes later, the guests were being herded toward the dinner tables. JJ and Barba split up while they each looked for the table they were assigned to, only to find that they were assigned to the same table: Table 4. Their name cards were even placed beside each other. But JJ read nothing into it. Instead, she glanced at the other place settings, trying to figure out which guy was the one Erin wanted her to meet. The other place card beside her was for Daniel Ehlers. It had to be him.

Barba unbuttoned his suit coat before he sat down in his chair. JJ threw her strappy heels beneath her chair before she sat down. Barba glanced at her curiously and she just shook her head. "You try wearing them," JJ said. "Your feet would be killing you too."

"I'll take your word for it," he responded before taking a sip of his drink. JJ reached over and playfully smacked his arm just as an older couple sat down at the table with them. JJ and Barba glanced at each other, holding back smiles, hoping to not be chastised by the older couple. But the older woman simply smiled and said nothing.

Another couple sat down at the table with them. But Daniel's seat still remained empty, as did the seat on the other side of Barba. JJ couldn't help but wonder if he had invited someone to the wedding with him, but she had stood him up. It made the most sense. JJ and Barba made small talk with the two other couples at their table until the servers came around with bowls of Harvest Bisque.

JJ dipper the soup spoon into the bowl and gently blew on her soup before she brought it to her mouth. She wasn't sure what to expect, but it was actually quite tasty. Whatever was in it, was far better than the cans of Campbell's soup she had learned to make. But she made sure to remember the manners that were ingrained in her long ago in check. So, she slowly savored her soup despite wanting to wolf it down like she did at home.

By the time she had finished her soup, Barba had removed his suit coat and hung it on the back of his chair. In all honesty, JJ was rather relieved that Daniel hadn't shown up. _That_ certainly would have been awkward, having to flirt with him with Barba around. That would have been awful and embarrassing. The absolute worst. Not because she really cared what Barba thought, but because he would have been unbearable.

When the salad course arrived a breeze began to blow through the terrace. JJ wished she would have remembered to bring a shawl. She forgot how much things cooled down in the evening. She rubbed her hands against her bare arms before she reached for her salad fork. She took a bite of salad and glanced over at Barba who just stared down at his salad. "I thought you liked salad," JJ said in a teasing tone.

Barba glanced over at her and rolled his eyes. "I do. I'm just looking forward to the main course." He then stabbed his salad and chewed a bite of salad as JJ shivered once more, which he saw. Once he swallowed he said, "Cold?"

JJ nodded her head. "That obvious?" she chuckled.

Barba smiled. "You can borrow my jacket if you'd like." He motioned with his head toward his jacket hanging on the back of his chair.

"You sure?" she asked somewhat hesitantly, not quite sure why he was actually being _nice_ to her. There had to be some sort of catch. There always was with him.

He just shrugged. "I don't need it. It's just gonna hang there, so go ahead."

JJ bit her bottom lip. "Am I gonna owe you for it?" she asked coyly.

He chuckled and glanced at her with a smirk on his face. "Looks like you're gonna have to risk it and find out."

She rubbed her arms once more and then nodded her head. "Oh, hand it over." He smiled before he reached back and grabbed it. Barba handed her the jacket. JJ reached her hand out to accept it. Her fingers brushed against his hand and tingles ran up her spine upon the touch. She avoided eye contact with him as she mumbled a thank you and put his jacket on.

Almost immediately, she felt warmer. She couldn't help but notice the scent of his cologne on his jacket. It smelled like him. It smelled good. The thought brought a slight blush to JJ's cheeks, but she ignored it and continued to eat her salad, hoping he didn't notice her smelling his jacket.

After the main course and cake, JJ and Barba still sat at the table making small talk. With the evening growing cooler, JJ still wore his jacket but he never asked for it back. Together they watched as Hank and Erin danced their first dance together as a married couple to a live band. JJ couldn't help but smile. The bride and groom looked happy. Genuinely happy. She set her hand down, which accidentally brushed against Barba's. She quickly recoiled as his hand clenched into a fist. JJ muttered an apology and reached for her wine glass.

A few songs later, Barba poked JJ in the arm. "You wanna dance?" he asked her.

"What?" she asked, clearly surprised by his question.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Dance. You wanna dance?"

JJ arched an eyebrow. "You know how?"

" _Mami_ -uh-my mother taught me a thing or two, believe it or not." He paused for a moment. "Or you can sit here bored for the rest of the night."

JJ listened to the song the band was playing. It was a rather upbeat one. She then glanced at Barba who was already on his feet and pushing his chair in. "Fine," JJ sighed. "Just a couple songs though. But if you step on my toes, Barba, I swear I am killing you."

Barba smirked as JJ stood up. "Then I'll be sure to try you for said murder."

"But you'll kinda be dead. Good luck with that one." JJ smirked right back at him.

He slightly narrowed his eyes and said, "Watch me." His face then broke out into a grin as they approached the dance floor.

Just when they found a spot to dance, the song changed from an upbeat song to a rather slow one, a cover of _She Will Be Loved_. JJ quickly thought of some excuse to bolt but Barba held his hand out for her to take. She looked up at him hesitantly and he hand a small smile on his face. So, she somewhat reluctantly accepted his hand. His other hand gently rested on her waist as he pulled her a little closer to him. JJ looked down for a moment, trying to hide the blush that crept up cheeks. "Don't step on my feet," she muttered to him, which made him laugh.

After a few seconds, she finally looked back up as he led her across the dance floor. He wasn't bad. Actually, he was pretty damn good. He was even able to avoid stumbling across her bare feet. Barba glanced down at her rather seriously and she looked up at him quizzically. "I wanted to apologize for how confrontational I was in my office about your life. As you so eloquently said, I was an ass. So, I'm sorry."

JJ arched an eyebrow. "Did I just hear what I thought I heard? You? Apologizing?"

He shook his head. "I know. It doesn't happen often. So you should take what you can get." JJ just nodded her head. Although, he wasn't quite sure whether or not his apology was accepted. As they continued to dance, Barba studied her carefully. "You-uh-you look nice tonight," he said.

JJ glanced up at him with a furrowed brow, unsure of whether he was complimenting her or messing with her. So, she decided to keep things light. She smiled coyly and said, "It's the jacket, right?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, it's totally the jacket.."

JJ smiled up at him. "You-you don't look so bad yourself, Barba," she stammered.

His brow furrowed for a moment. "You can call me by my first name, you know."

She straightened her stance a bit and looked him directly in the eye. "Same goes for you, _Rafael_."

Seeing her stand up to him amused him. So, he fired right back at her. "But no one ever calls you by your first name, _Jillian_."

JJ's nose scrunched. "JJ. Call me JJ. Jillian is what my father…" She stopped for a moment and bit her lip. She wasn't ready for _that_ conversation. Not yet. JJ sighed, knowing that his eyes were practically glued to her. She made eye contact with him and softly smiled. "You can call me JJ."

Rafael softly nodded his head. They danced silently for the rest of the song, but JJ couldn't help but notice how close she was to him. She almost felt safe there with him, a feeling she hadn't felt with another person in quite some time. She was used to being the one to protect herself. But the moment was ruined, when both Rafael and JJ spotted Hank and Erin giving them overexaggerated thumbs-up. Rafael's brow furrowed. "What's that about?" he asked.

JJ bit her lip for a moment when it hit her like a freight train. "You wouldn't happen to have been one of Hank's roommates, would you?"

"Yeah," he said somewhat hesitantly. He thought for a moment and then shook his head. "And you wouldn't happen to be the girl Erin used to be an R.A. for, would you?"

"Guilty."

The pair stopped dancing and stood there staring at each other for a moment. Clearly, they had both been told about the other. It was just that neither of them had realized the other was the person they were being set-up with. "I-uh-I need another drink," JJ said before she released his hand and quickly walked away from him toward the bar. She wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do, but she did it.

JJ asked the bartender for something strong and he obliged. She rubbed her temples as she sipped on whatever drink he had given her, she wasn't too sure what it was to be honest. After a few sips, someone approached her on her right. "Jillian," the familiar voice drawled.

The voice made her skin crawl and her heart beat faster, but not in a good way. Slowly, she turned to see the bald man with thick framed glasses standing beside her. She wanted nothing more than to run away. But she felt frozen in place. Her feet felt like cement blocks, unable to move. So, she tried to ignore the man. But the man took a step closer toward her. "I know you can hear me."

"What are you doing here?" JJ hissed. "Erin promised my father wasn't invited."

" _He_ wasn't. But I happen to know Brenda, Hank's mother, quite intimately. Erin probably doesn't even know." JJ closed her eyes and tried to wish the man away, but he continued to talk. "Your father and I suspected you'd be here, Jillian. So, I came, on both of our behalfs, to offer our well wishes to the happy couple."

"That doesn't even make sense," JJ said trying to sound braver than both of them knew she actually was.

The man darkly chuckled before he asked, "Have you come to your senses yet, Jillian?"

JJ put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. "Leave me alone," she said.

"Now, now, Jillian, don't make a scene," the man whispered in JJ's ear, leaning so close that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"Leave me alone," she repeated.

From across the terrace, Rafael witnessed the exchange between JJ and this older man. He watched, waiting for JJ to push the man away or to walk away, but he was quite surprised when she didn't. She just stood there and let the man do as he pleased. That wasn't the JJ he knew. No, she looked almost like...the victims whose cases he prosecuted.

WIth determination, he quickly strode across the terrace. He watched could see JJ physically begin to shut down and quickened his pace. Rafael heard JJ ask the man to leave, but the man made no motion to do so. "I believe she asked you to leave," Rafael, said approaching the situation. He watched as JJ glanced at him with a look of relief in her eyes as the man slightly backed away.

"Jillian and I were just catching up, weren't we?" the old man said.

Rafael positioned himself between JJ and the man. "And now you're done," he said seriously before pointing away. "Bye." The old man put his hands up in defense and slowly backed away. Rafael watched the man until he had disappeared. He then turned toward JJ. Rafael breathed rather heavily as he stood there watching JJ rubbing at her face.

When she finally looked at him, it was obvious she was rattled, but he had unanswered questions. "What the hell was that?" Rafael asked.

JJ looked at him. For a moment, it looked like she was about to tell him everything. But then her facial expression changed. She shook her head. "Nothing. It was nothing." JJ walked a few steps and grabbed an unopened bottle of wine that sat on one of the tables. "I just wanna get drunk and pretend nothing actually happened."

* * *

Sunday, October 7th

The sun streamed in through the curtains as JJ slowly awoke with a pounding headache. She groaned, having no recollection of how she had gotten to the room. Quickly glancing under the blankets, she realized that she was still clothed in the dress and suit coat from the night before. But most of last night was a blur to her. Quite honestly, the only thing she was sure of was that she had to puke. JJ quickly ran to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. How much had she drank last night? She wasn't a drinker...at least not a heavy one. Usually she had no more than one or two drinks, but this felt like way more than that. She could count on one hand the number of times she had been drunk and all of those situations had been related to her...

JJ puked again. Her head continued to pound, so she slowly walked back to the bed. But she stopped suddenly when she noticed the pile of blankets on the floor at the end of the bed move. For a moment, she thought she was imagining things, but the blankets groaned...and the groan sounded familiar. JJ took a few steps closer toward the blankets to find A.D.A. Rafael Barba asleep on the floor in the room she was sleeping in. JJ squealed and then jumped onto the bed.

"Good morning to you too," he groaned from the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" JJ questioned.

Rafael groaned again. "I was sleeping."

"No, what are you doing... _in here?"_

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was dressed in a white undershirt and grey sweatpants with Harvard written down the side of the leg. From the floor he glanced up at JJ on the bed. "What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

JJ closed her eyes and rubbed her temples as she thought about the night before. "It's hazy, but-uh-dinner?"

"Uh-let's see here. You got really drunk. I stole your car keys from your purse and then drove you here."

"Then why aren't you in your own room?"

"Because they gave your room away."

"They what?"

"The guy at the front desk gave your room away literally five minutes before we got here. Said he thought the policy was 12...not 2. We got here a little after midnight."

"I better not have been charged for the room."

"Don't worry, you weren't. I told the kid at the front desk that I wanted to speak to the manager. I might have let it slip that I practiced law. The manager felt bad and now you have a voucher for a free weekend stay here because of the mixup. So, instead of leaving you to sleep in your car, I brought you here. You got the bed, I took the floor, which was a terrible idea because my back is already hurting. And on that note, I need coffee. You want some?"

JJ rubbed at her temples. "And some Advil."

Rafael chuckled before he stood up and stretched. He rubbed his lower back, which slightly pained him from sleeping on the hard floor. JJ watched him intently, which he noticed. He turned and glanced at her. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said shaking her head. "I just normally see you in a suit. That's all."

"Well, I don't sleep in them," he scoffed. "What kind of person do you think I am? Dracula?"

JJ gave a weak smile. "Wouldn't surprise me."

Rafael rolled his eyes before he put on a pair of socks and left the room in search of coffee. JJ was surprised to see her bag on the table. Maybe the man wasn't as much of an ass as she thought he was...maybe it was an act, like the one she sometimes put on. But then again, that seemed rather ridiculous. So, JJ grabbed her bag and walked to the bathroom to change...and try not to puke.

JJ dressed in an oversized flannel shirt and skinny jeans. She threw her hair up in a messy bun and placed her glasses on her face. Contacts were a terrible idea with the way her head was hurting. She popped a couple Advil and then walked back into the room to find Rafael sitting at the table with a coffee in his hand and another on the table. JJ sat down across the table from him and grabbed the coffee, which she slowly sipped. They then sat there in silence, just drinking their coffees. And the weirdest part was that the silence wasn't even awkward. It was actually rather comfortable.

It took some convincing, but JJ finally agreed to let Rafael drive them to back to the city. Not having to drive with a headache won out over not spending more time with him. So, for the first hour of the trip, JJ slept. But her sleep was plagued with nightmares of the man from last night. She awoke breathing heavily with Rafael glancing between her and the road rather curiously. She grabbed the bottle of water she had bought before the trip and slowly sipped it, calming her breathing.

To say she was embarrassed would be an understatement. Here she was, supposed to be a badass NYC detective and yet she was letting _this_ rattle her again...in front of him. Normally, she was good at holding it all in, but for some reason, she just couldn't. She sat up and hoped that he wouldn't say anything, but she knew better. "Don't take this the wrong way…" he started.

JJ rolled her eyes. "That's the start of a good conversation," she scoffed.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm nosy. You know I'm nosy. I'm fairly positive it's one of the first things you discovered about me."

"True," JJ sighed.

"That man from last night. Who was he?"

JJ's brow furrowed as she tried to remember a man from last night. But then it hit her. The man from last night had been Jimmy. JJ was silent for a moment. She wasn't sure what to tell Rafael. He had saved her from him. He deserved something of an explanation from her. But there was a reason she didn't share...because she tended to overshare. And honestly, she didn't want his judgment of her to cloud. She didn't want him thinking that _it_ made her any less of a cop.

She shifted uncomfortably as she glanced at him. "I-I can't tell you everything, so please don't press me. I'll tell you what I can tell you," she told him. Rafael glanced at her. It was obvious he didn't want to agree to those terms, but he reluctantly nodded his head. "All I can tell you is that...the man works for my father."

Rafael's brow furrowed as he focused on the road. "Your father," he repeated. "The one who isn't listed on your birth certificate."

JJ nodded her head.

"It's all part of _the reason_ , isn't it?" he asked.

She nodded her head again. "Just know that I'm a good cop. I do my job and I do it well. I'm not weak."

"I never thought you were anything but a good cop." There was a long moment of silence before he spoke once more. "But if you ever need help, I can help you...or at least find someone else who can."

"Good to know. But I'm fine. I promise." JJ rested her head once more and quickly fell back asleep, scared that she might expose more of her past. She glanced at him once to see him tapping the wheel rather impatiently and it made her smile. Something had changed and she wasn't sure what, when, or how.

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 **Author's Note: And here we are! Another chapter! A full chapter without really anything case related! I hope it was alright! Haha. Thank you so much for all the love and support ya'll have given this story! It really means a lot to me. :) I never expected this little plot bunny to grow. So thank you! I'm gonna try responding to reviews here, like I do with some of my other stories. These will go away when the next chapter is posted.**

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If you're ever interested, I have a tumblr where I post edits and answer questions about my writing: missjanuarylily. Thanks for taking the time to read and review! It means a lot :)


	4. Friending Emily

**14x06: Friending Emily**

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 _This chapter is dedicated to Renny Autumn, it was your review that gave me inspiration for this chapter! Thank you! :)_

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Rafael Barba sat in his office absently swirling the cup of coffee in his hand as he read over the files in front of him. He glanced over his shoulder at the window to find the sun already beginning to set. It was going to be a long night. Since transferring to Manhattan, he had been up to his neck in cases due to the massive ousting of corrupt D.A.'s and other government officials. But he liked the work. He did. Besides, it was better if he kept himself busy. But keeping busy didn't end basic human needs...like hunger and his cup of coffee was not satisfying his growling stomach.

Carmen had left the office for the evening, meaning he was going to have to venture out for some dinner. Making sure his wallet was in his pocket, he put his suit coat back on. For a moment he debated putting his tie back on, but he decided against it. He would be coming back to the office to eat anyway because he had too much work to do. So, Rafael decided to walk to Subway.

There was a certain spring in his step as he walked the Manhattan sidewalks. He had been like this since he had gotten back from his weekend in the Hamptons for a wedding. Surprisingly, he had enjoyed himself. He had enjoyed spending time with a certain blonde SVU detective. While he wasn't sure what about her intrigued him, she did. Perhaps it was their easy banter or the way he knew he could fluster her. But he wasn't going to act on it. He couldn't. Not yet. He was still relatively new to the office and he had to focus on that. He had to.

When he opened the door to Subway, the smell of their bread wafted toward him. While he didn't buy into all the eat _fresh_ nonsense, it was a quick and easy meal. Although, he had heard horror stories from a buddy of his who had worked his way through college at a Subway. With his hands in his pants pockets, he approached the counter to order his sandwich. Just then the bell on the door dinged. Instinctively he turned to see who it was. A smile slowly spread across his face when he noticed two blonde detectives walk through the door. Although, if he was being honest his smile was directed more toward one of the blondes.

"Detectives," he greeted with a nod of his head toward them. JJ's face looked rather shocked, much like it did every time he ran into her. He thought she'd be used to him running into her by this point. Not that he was stalking her or anything, but fate seemed to be throwing them together quite frequently.

It was Detective Amanda Rollins who greeted him first. "Barba," she responded before nudging JJ in the side. He watched as JJ tried not to react to Rollins and just nodded at him instead.

"So what brings you here?" Rafael asked.

"Same as you," JJ quickly retorted.

He arched an eyebrow. "A Footlong Meatball Marinara with a Coke and cookies?"

JJ rolled her eyes. "Food, Barba. We're here for food."

Recalling their conversation about his name, he looked curiously at her. She must have understood because she gave a slight nod of her head toward Rollins before she straightened her stance. He nodded knowingly. She wanted to appear professional in front of her coworker, which he could understand. Although he had a feeling that Rollins wouldn't really care whether or not they were professional.

"Sir, are you gonna order?" Jordan, the grumpy Subway sandwich artist asked.

"Probably not," JJ muttered behind him.

Rafael smiled and chuckled under his breath. He then folded his arms across his chest and said, "I'll take a Footlong Meatball…" He paused for a moment to glare at JJ and Rollins, both of whom were chuckling. He was pretty sure JJ snorted. Rafael shook his head. "Real mature," he directed toward them, but that just made them laugh harder. Rafael rolled his eyes and turned toward Jordan, who didn't look amused.

"What kind of bread, sir."

"Italian Herb and Cheese." Rafael turned toward JJ, whose face was quite pink and her hand was covering her mouth attempting to stifle any more laughter. He shook his head once more. "Anything wrong with my choice of bread?" he asked glancing at her rather pointedly.

"Hey! I didn't say anything," JJ said rather defensively with her arms now folded across her chest.

He arched an eyebrow. "No, but it was your silence...or lack thereof that gave you away." Rafael gave her a pretend smile to show his annoyance. She responded by directing him back toward Jordan who stood there trying to make the sandwich. Not wanting to piss the sandwich artist off more than necessary, he continued down the sandwich line.

Rafael didn't know why, but he was hyper-aware of what JJ ordered in line after him. She got a six-inch Oven Roasted Chicken on Italian Herb and Cheese with spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, and Sweet Onion Sauce. He was almost annoyed with himself how aware he was about everything she did. But he tried not to let it show.

So, he paid for his meal and was about to say his goodbyes when there was the sound of a text notification. Rafael pulled his phone out of his pocket to find that it wasn't him. It was Rollins. She looked rather displeased as she looked at her phone. "Dammit. It's Kim. I gotta go," Rollins mumbled.

"Amanda," JJ groaned, with her arms folded across her chest.

Rollins looked rather sympathetic toward her friend. "Jage, I'm sorry. She's my sister."

"No, I know. I get it, well _technically_ I don't, but I think you know what I mean." Her phrasing confused Rafael, but he just watched as the other blonde detective nodded her head before JJ continued, "But it doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I hate to leave you here by yourself." Rollins then made eye contact with Rafael and he knew exactly what she was trying to convey. Rollins wanted him to stay. She wanted him to stay and eat with JJ. While the thought of another dinner with her intrigued him, he _did_ have a ton of work back at the office.

Before he knew what he was doing, he volunteered to stay and eat with JJ. "I can stay." Those were _not_ the words he had planned on saying. But before he could correct himself, Rollins chimed in.

"Would you?" Rollins asked with somewhat of a surprised tone, despite having directed the comment toward him. He wanted to roll his eyes but he refrained as Rollins reached out and grabbed his arm. "That would make me feel a little better about the situation." Rafael nodded his head and Rollins smiled. "Thank you."

JJ looked at him. "You don't have to do that," she stated matter-of-factly.

It was Rollins who responded first. "No, he doesn't. But he's going to. I'm not going to let you scare him away." Rollins then looked at Rafael. "It's about time one of us buttered-up the A.D..A."

JJ looked at Rollins curiously. Rollins chuckled. 'You know, for cases."

"Is that how things work in Manhattan?" Rafael asked sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure that's how things work everywhere," JJ remarked. Her tone was somewhat bitter and Rafael's brow furrowed because he didn't understand where she was coming from. But Rollins elbowing JJ seemed to snap her out of it. JJ then offered him a forced smile.

"Why don't you go get a table so JJ and I can pay?" Rollins suggested at Rafael, who was still standing there somewhat awkwardly beside them swinging his bag of food. He didn't bother arguing that all the tables were empty. He just found sat down at a table near the window and sat down.

Rafael opened his bottle of Coke and took a sip. It wasn't coffee, that was for sure, but it would do. He took his sandwich out of the plastic bag and set it on the table. He wouldn't start eating until JJ joined him. He had learned some manners growing up. For a moment he watched the people walking by outside, but his attention was diverted to the two blonde detectives who were whispering to each other. He shook his head. It was obvious they were talking about him. But he wasn't easily intimidated. So, he looked right at them and arched an eyebrow, letting them know that he knew they were talking about him.

JJ chewed her bottom lip as she made eye contact with him. Rollins just chuckled. JJ set her sandwich and drink on the table before she sat across the table from Rafael. Rafael couldn't help but watch her as she tucked her hair behind her ears. JJ was very beautiful, there was no denying it. But she must have caught him watching her because she made a silly face at him, sticking her tongue out. Rafael slightly chuckled and shook his head.

"Alright you two, try not to have too much fun without me," Rollins said leaning against the door.

Rafael opened his mouth to speak, but JJ beat him to the punch. "Me and Barba?" JJ chuckled. Rollins shook her head and swatted at JJ before she left and headed to her apartment. That left Rafael and JJ alone...again. Well, Jordan the sandwich artist was there too, but he was conveniently hiding in the back.

After a sip of his Coke, Rafael said, "So, it's Barba again, huh?"

JJ rolled her eyes and unwrapped her sandwich. "Amanda's a coworker and I was trying to maintain _some_ professionalism."

Rafael nodded his head, despite not buying her excuse. "Uh-huh. Sure." He took a bite of his sandwich.

JJ slightly narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to defy her. "You don't think that's what it was? Then please, enlighten me to _my_ motivation."

He wiped at the bit of marinara sauce in the corner of his mouth before he responded,"You didn't tell Rollins about the wedding, did you?"

The blonde chewed her lip for a moment, not having anticipated him to direct the conversation _there_. "No, I told her about the wedding. I just conveniently left-out the detail about you being there."

He shook his head. "Of course you did."

JJ groaned and folded her arms across her chest. "It would have only made things worse because she thinks I got _lucky_."

Rafael arched one of his eyebrows suggestively. Her use of air-quotes with the word lucky amused him. He enjoyed getting her going, so he said, "Well, technically you did get _lucky_. Lucky to be graced with my presence."

She rolled her eyes. "More like _un_ lucky."

" _Ohhh_ ," Rafael laughed with his hand over his heart. "Ouch. That hurt."

JJ smirked. "It was supposed to."

Rafael couldn't help but think of the first time they had dined together. Like an asshole, he had pointed out to her that she had been stood-up. But she wasn't the only one who had been stood-up that night. He had as well, but he had been too proud to tell her that. Instead he had come off rather arrogant and smug...and he _knew_ he had. But he normally kept people at arm's length because it was just easier that way. However, he was beginning to enter unchartered territory as far as JJ was concerned.

"So, who's Kim?" Rafael asked after he had finished chewing a bite of his sandwich.

He had caught her mid-bite. JJ held up a finger for him to give her a moment before she then pointed the finger at her mouth . After several more bites and a swallow, JJ answered, "Kim's her little sister. She's up from Atlanta. No doubt to cause Amanda some trouble."

"You've met her before?"

JJ shook her head. "No, but I've heard enough to get the gist of things. Her sister has a lot of issues and Kim tries to put Amanda in the middle of them." JJ paused for a moment. "Not that I should be telling you any of this."

"Hey now, I thought we were trying this whole being civil to each other thing out."

"It's not _that_. More the fact that it's Amanda's story to tell, not mine. So, I'd appreciate it if you kept what I said between us."

Rafael nodded his head and smirked. "Attorney-client privilege."

His response made JJ roll her eyes as she took another bite of her sandwich. When she finished chewing, she retorted, "I should have _known_ you'd say _that_." That made him laugh.

The two continued to eat their sandwiches together casually discussing things and surprisingly, work never came up. Not even once. Which seemed rather odd to Rafael because his whole life was practically work. Again, it was rare to have conversations like this with someone else.

When they had finished their sandwiches, Rafael grabbed the paper bag containing the cookies. "Cookie?" he asked her.

JJ eyed him curiously before she asked, "You have one with some sort of chocolate?"

Rafael arched an eyebrow at her. "Do you think I'm an idiot? Of course, I do."

She laughed and shook her head. "I didn't realize love of chocolate dictated level of intelligence."

"It should." Rafael held the cookie bag out toward her and JJ plucked out a double chocolate chip cookie.

JJ took a bite of her cookie. She spoke covering her mouth with her hand. "I dare you to use that argument in court."

Rafael smiled. "That'll go well. ' _Objection!'"_ He then lowered his voice a little. _"'On what grounds Mr. Barba?'"_ His voice returned to normal. " _'On the account that the man doesn't like chocolate and is therefore an idiot, you honor.'_ "

JJ laughed. She genuinely laughed. Rafael couldn't help but smile at her laugh. It was infectious, so much so that he started to laugh himself. He couldn't help but notice how at ease he felt with her. It was rare that he felt like this with someone. Not that he was going to say anything. He didn't want to jinx things. He had a habit of doing that.

When they were done eating, they tossed their garbage and walked outside into the New York night. "Walk with me back to the office?" Rafael asked her as the crisp night air tickled his cheeks.

"Did you forget something?" she asked as they started walking.

He shook his head. "Nah. I still have some work to do."

"Rafael," JJ said in a rather scolding tone with her hands on her hips. "Why didn't you tell me that you still had to work? I wouldn't have kept you so long _or_ I would have eaten there if you wanted me to."

Rafael arched an eyebrow suspiciously. "Would you have really?"

JJ pondered his question for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip. "It would have taken a little arm twisting, but yeah. I'm sure you of all people could have come up with a valid argument to get me to do it."

For a moment, Rafael smiled at her flattery. "I'll keep that in mind," he said rather softly. JJ folded her arms across her chest. It was a little chillier than the last few nights. "Are you always cold?" he asked.

"Usually," JJ chuckled. "You think I'd have learned to dress myself by now."

Rafael glanced at her. He thought she was dressed rather nicely, not that he was going to voice that. Instead, he cleared his throat. 'You want my jacket?"

"Then you'll be cold."

"Nah. I only put it on when I left the office so that I didn't look like a slob." JJ sighed and held out her hand toward him. Rafael chuckled as took his jacket off and handed it to her. "I should start carrying an extra suit coat on me at all times," he teased.

"Just when I thought you were actually being nice," JJ teased him right back as she slipped the coat on.

Rafael glanced at her with an arched eyebrow. "To you? Never."

JJ chuckled. "That's what I thought."

When they reached Rafael's office building, the pair came to a stop outside. Rafael looked at her for a moment, debating whether or not he should tell her that he had a good time with her. He chose not to say nothing...for now. JJ removed his coat and handed it back to him. "Thanks," she said. He simply nodded his head as he accepted his jacket back and draped over his arm. "Good night, Rafael," JJ said with a slight smile on her face.

"Good night, JJ," he offered back. With that, JJ turned and walked away. For a moment, Rafael stood there and watched her wondering when he would get to see her next.

~*~Dun Dun~*~

Rafael Barba once again sat at his desk, but this time the sun was up and streaming through his windows. His pen tapped against the file folder in front of him as he read through a case file. He heard the phone ring in the other room. Pausing for a moment, he listened until Carmen's voice came through the speaker on his phone. "You have a call, Mr. Barba."

"Who is it?" Rafael asked, debating if he should tell them to call back at a different time.

"Detective Jacobs with SVU," Carmen responded.

"I'll take it in here."

"Yes, sir."

"This is Rafael Barba, how can I help you."

"You're mocking me aren't you?" JJ's voice came from the phone. "For the whole professionalism thing."

"Well, hello to you too, Detective Jacobs." He heard JJ groan on the other line and that made him smile. He rubbed at his face, attempting to wipe the smile away before he added, "I assume there's a reason you called me?"

"How busy are you today?"

His brow furrowed. Where was she going with this? He decided to play things cool. "Depends. Why?"

"I was volunteered to talk to you about a case we're working on. Is there a good time to swing by?"

"Ah, yes, work. Of course." Rafael wasn't sure why, but he was disappointed. He wasn't entirely sure why he had thought she would call him for any other reason besides work, but he had. He flipped through the calendar on his desk before he responded, "Swing by at anytime. I'm in the office all day."

"Sounds good. I'll be by shortly."

Rafael listened to her hang up and then he hung up. It wasn't how he had anticipated seeing her next, but he was glad to be seeing her. She always made his day seem a little bit better, even if all they did was bicker.

About an hour later, JJ walked through his door with Sergeant John Munch. JJ carried two coffees in her hands. She approached his desk and held one out toward him. "I assumed you were here late last night and I felt bad for that, so consider this my peace offering. I double-checked with Brooke to make sure I got your order right."

Rafael accepted the coffee and smiled at her thoughtfulness. It surprised him. "You didn't have to do that," he said.

JJ smiled. 'Yeah, I know. But now you owe me. Win-win."

He chuckled and glanced at Sergeant Munch who was leaning against a chair. "I've never asked before, how long have you two been partnered up?" Rafael asked taking a sip of the coffee.

"Since I started at SVU," JJ answered. "I mean, there is the occasional switch-up, but John Munch has been the most consistent man in my life for over two years now." JJ patted Munch's shoulder, which made the older man shake his head. But JJ wasn't done. "I think we've been together longer than most of your relationships with your ex-wives," she teased.

Munch glanced at JJ pointedly before he looked at Rafael. "You want some embarrassing stories about this one?" Munch said pointing at JJ. "I've got plenty I'd be willing to share."

"I'm all ears," Rafael smirked shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Not now you're not," JJ retorted arching an eyebrow, glancing between them both. "We've got a case."

"We'll talk later," Munch directed at Rafael, motioning between the two of them. Rafael just smiled and nodded. JJ rolled her eyes and playfully backhanded her partner on the arm.

"So what have you got for me?" Rafael asked, folding his arms across his chest, getting back to business.

"We need help finding a fourteen-year-old girl," JJ said.

Still leaning against the chair, Munch dropped his head and shook it. "It's a doozy," the older man responded.

JJ pulled a file folder out of the her bag and took a step closer toward Barba's desk. "Emily Culpher has been taken by a predator named Peter. She came to the city with her sister on a school field trip. Emily ended up at a frat party with her older sister Taylor and that's where Peter abducted her from. Taylor found out about the party from some woman named Wendi who put malware on Taylor's phone so that she and Peter could target and learn about Emily."

"Peter and Wendi?" Rafael questioned, shaking his head.

She sighed. "The Peter Pan allusion wasn't lost on us either. That instead of the _Lost Boys_ , he has lost girls." The thought was disturbing.

"But the situation is definitely _not_ a Disney movie. It's worse, much worse," Munch said. He looked at JJ and nodded his head for her to continue.

"We've been working with a hacker in Rikers…" JJ started. "He found uploads from Peter going back five years." JJ began to place the photos on Rafael's desk. "Every year, there's a new girl."

"And with every girl, there are five Lolitaville videos." Munch held up a hand to put emphasis on the number five. The older man put four fingers down until only his thumb remained. "Emily makes number six."

Rafael shuddered at the photographs in front of him. It was beyond disturbing what these girls were forced to go through, but it was his job to figure out how best to help Emily using the legal system. He sighed. "Same scenario every time?"

"At first," Munch stated.

"The first video is in the bedroom," JJ continued. "The second in the bath. And the third…" her voice trailed off.

"And after that, it depends on audience requests," Munch spat. His disgust was obvious.

Rafael looked JJ in the eyes. "And the last video we have of Emily?"

JJ folded her arms across her chest. "The bath. He invited the audience to submit requests."

Rafael's gears were turning. There had to be a way to save this girl from any more harm. There had to be something he could do to assist SVU. "How long between posts?"

"Sometimes it's just a few days." The blonde detective clutched at the necklace around her neck. Rafael knew that was a nervous habit of JJ's. This case was bothering her. More than normal. He could see that.

"But sometimes it's more," Munch added. "That part hasn't been consistent."

Slowly exhaling a breath, Rafael glanced at the photographs on his desk. "No sense of place or time, outside sounds…"

"Windowless room," JJ said. "Everything inside the room is generic. Your typical Walmart or Target stuff."

Rafael sighed. He had an idea. They might not like it, but it was the only thing he could think of that might legally work. He glanced up at JJ. If anyone understood his angle on this, it would be her. "All we have are the girls?"

JJ nodded.

He glanced back down at the pictures. "Odds are, when he's through they go into drugs or prostitution, meaning that they're probably in the system. I'll issue warrants." Rafael glanced back up, as expected, it was Sergeant Munch who seemed resistant to the idea.

"Warrants for what?" the sergeant questioned. "These women are all _victims_."

Rafael looked at JJ, who gave a slight nod of her head. She understood. He then glanced at Munch. "You'll think of something. We've got to get Emily. Fast. These other girls it's too late for them."

~*~Dun Dun~*~

When Rafael got home that evening, he sat on his sofa with glass of scotch on the side table and his phone in his hands. He was tempted to text JJ and see how things were going. He was used to people opposing his ideas, but he wanted to make sure that she understood. He kept overthinking that nod she gave after he explained his plan. Maybe it was involuntary. Maybe she didn't really understand his plan. And while he normally didn't give a crap about what people thought of him, he _did_ care what JJ thought of him. He shouldn't, but he did.

He too a sip of his scotch and then set it back down on the table. He grabbed the TV remote and turned it on, trying to distract himself from thinking about her. But that didn't last long. He only made it until the commercial break before he started playing with his phone. He pulled her contact information up and ran his finger across it absently, _accidentally_ hitting the call button. He let the phone ring, hoping she would answer.

But she didn't. It went to voicemail. "Uh-hi. This is Rafael….Barba. Rafael Barba. I'm calling to make sure you knew that you got the warrants we requested this afternoon. If you need anything else, let me know. Bye." He quickly pushed the end call button feeling like a complete lunatic. Of course she probably already knew about the warrants. He rubbed his temples and then took another drink. This woman was likely to drive him crazy. He just hoped that he could keep her from knowing it.

~*~ Dun Dun ~*~

The next morning, Rafael walked into Starbucks, his head slightly pounding. After that phone call, he had another drink...or two. He couldn't quite remember. All he knew was that he needed coffee and while he had plenty of liquor in the house, he was out of coffee, so he hadn't yet had his first cup of coffee this morning. He always had a cup _before_ coming to Starbucks. It was his thing. But not today.

"Morning," a familiar and sweet voice said behind him. Rafael turned to find that it was JJ standing behind him.

"Morning," he responded rather gruffly.

JJ chewed her bottom lip for a second before she blurted out, "I was going to call back you when I got back to the office. I fell asleep at my desk last night, which is why I missed your call...and Fin took blackmail pictures. And then when I woke up it was too late to call you back, so I was going to wait until _normal people_ hours. But I wasn't sure what your hours would be on a Saturday...aaaaannd, I'm rambling." She paused for a moment and shook her head. "Thank you for your phone call. There was some snafu in communication, so we were glad you called."

Rafael stood there for a moment trying to process everything she said. "Did you say something about blackmail pictures?"

JJ rolled her eyes and chuckled. "That _would_ be all you got out of that. I try to be nice and thank you for letting us know about the warrants and you're concerned about the blackmail pictures."

He smiled at her. "You're welcome then."

"There you go. Much better." JJ smiled as they took a few steps forward in line. "Do you usually work Saturdays?" she asked.

Rafael shrugged. "It depends on my case load. Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I prefer going in on Saturdays. Hardly anyone is around, so it's like having the place to myself and there's no one around to bother me."

"You shouldn't have told me that. Now, I'm gonna show up at your office every Saturday," she teased.

"I can take you," Rafael responded with a smile. "Either that or I can lock my door."

JJ grinned. "Hypothetically speaking, I'd likely be able to unlock it."

Rafael grinned back at her hypothetical phrasing. "You hypothetical won't change the breaking and entering status."

"Oops, wrong door?" JJ shrugged and smiled innocently at him. That made him laugh. She probably made him laugh more in the few months he had known her than most other people had known for years. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but there was certainly something.

Rafael ordered his coffee and walked along the counter to wait for his drink. When JJ was finished ordering her drink, she walked over and stood beside him. "So do you plan on being at the office most of the day?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Probably."

JJ tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'm only asking in case we need something for this case."

"Ah. Yeah, I should be around." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "But you do have my cell number, so you should be able to get ahold of me either way." Rafael smiled to himself. He was half-tempted to stay out of his office and work elsewhere in the building to force her to call him that way. But he wouldn't because a phone call like that would be too important to miss.

"That's right," JJ muttered to herself, a pink tinge beginning to creep onto her cheeks.

He watched as she refused to meet his gaze. Once again, he had managed to fluster her, which made him smile. Rafael turned to face the counter again as the barista called his name. He walked up and grabbed his coffee. He quickly took a sip of the beverage he had impatiently waited for all morning. It was the sweet nectar he craved. Rafael closed his eyes for a moment before he turned back toward JJ. "I'll be seeing you," he said, nodding his head. She nodded hers back and he walked out of the Starbuck, headed for his office.

Once he arrived in his office, he started a pot of coffee. Some people might find his ritual rather ridiculous, but he didn't care what people thought of his coffee addiction. A cup of Starbucks coffee was always worth it, but he already knew that he was going to need more coffee than _that_ to get him through the day. Coffee…caffeine...one of the few addictions Rafael was glad was legal. If it was ever made otherwise, he would be seriously screwed.

Rafael started his computer. He leaned back in his chair and slowly sipped his coffee as he waited for the thing to fully boot up. When things were good to go, he opened the internet and went straight to Pandora. He clicked on the _Salsa Cubana_ station and danced around a little in his chair to the first song that started to play. It was another reason he liked coming in on Saturday mornings. No one was around to see him like _this_. It was how he studied when his roommate was out back at Harvard. Not that he had Pandora back then, but a Walkman had sufficed at the time.

He bounced around to the music as he read through a file folder. Rafael placed the folder on his lap when he needed to make a note about something before he returned to reading it. When he ran out of coffee from Starbucks, he stopped working and walked over to the coffee maker to pour himself a cup. Looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching, he danced his way back to his desk with his coffee in hand before going back to work.

Around noon, his cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller information to find that JJ was calling him. Knowing that it must be important, he wasted no time in picking up. "Hello, this is Rafael Barba," he answered.

"Hey, it's Detective Jacobs with SVU," she responded.

"My Caller ID said as much." He paused for a moment to hear her groan before he continued. "What can I do for you, Detective Jacobs?"

"We're gonna need a warrant for a wiretap. Taylor has photo ID'd Wendi, Peter's accomplice, who used to be one of the girls. We're working on her real identity, but I can tell you that she's from Jersey, is going by Wendi, not with a y but an i, Baker. We ran her plates, but haven't come up with anything on her vehicle. We wanna make her our Trojan horse. We're thinking that if Amaro and Liv approach her, it's gonna spook her and she'll call Peter."

Rafael nodded his head. "Makes sense," he responded as he reached for a pen to jot down the information. "You wouldn't happen to have a phone number for her, would you?"

"We're hoping to have her make a call to Liv's cellphone."

"Risky, but ok." Rafael then listened and scribbled down the information JJ gave him for the warrant. He then read all the information back to her to make sure everything was accurate. He then set his pen down and placed his free hand in his pocket. "You have a post set up?" he asked.

"Working on it as we speak," JJ offered.

Rafael nodded his head again, even though he knew she couldn't see him. He then cleared his throat. "I will personally swing the warrant by when I get it."

"Thank you."

There was a silent pause. Rafael was the one to break it. "Alright, I'll see you soon…with that warrant. Bye, JJ."

"Bye."

Rafael quickly set to work, drafting the necessary paperwork. Then he had to find a judge to sign off on the warrant. Finding one wasn't too difficult. Despite not having been in Manhattan very long, he had already made quite a few _friends_. Once the warrant was signed, he quickly made his way down to the 16th precinct where he knew they were waiting on the wiretap warrant he carried in his inside suit coat pocket.

The elevator ride at the 16th precinct was fairly uneventful. He walked into the bullpen and scanned the room for JJ. She wasn't there. But he spotted Sergeant Munch sitting at his desk, so Rafael approached him. "You here for that chat I suggested?" Munch asked.

For a moment, Rafael was baffled, but then he remembered that yesterday Munch said they should meet later to discuss JJ's embarrassing moments. Rafael shook his head. "Actually, I'm looking for Detective Jacobs. I have the warrant she requested," he said patting his suit jacket pocket.

Munch nodded. "Well, she'll be glad to see you, then."

Rafael smiled rather smugly at the thought of JJ being glad to see him. She always tried to play otherwise but he usually could tell...or at least he thought he could. But remembering that the issue at hand was time sensitive, he asked, "So where is she?"

The sergeant pointed down the hall. "She's in the conference room with Rollins and the guy setting up the wiretap." Munch then folded his arms across his chest and glanced at Rafael over the frame of his glasses.

Rafael nodded his head before he sharply turned on his heel and headed toward the conference room. As he approached the closed door, he could see JJ through the open blinds of the window. She spotted him and gave him a single wave. He waved back before he knocked on the door and then entered.

Rollins was quite surprised by his presence. "You got the wiretap warrant that fast?" she questioned, standing up and looking at him with wide eyes.

Rafael smiled smugly. "I'm quick."

WIthout even looking up or missing a beat, JJ glanced up at him. "Not something most men usually brag about," she said rather quietly...but loud enough for him to hear.

For a moment, Rafael was stunned by her quick quip. His mouth was open to say something, but for once, he had nothing. JJ laughed. "What? Last time I checked, you haven't trademarked the snarky comeback."

Rafael shook his head and rolled his eyes. It was probably best to get back on track otherwise this conversation could go even farther south pretty fast. He cleared his throat. "We live yet?" he asked.

The man running the wiretap glanced back at Rafael, trying to hide a smile. Rafael rolled his eyes as the man turned back toward his system and turned the volume up so that everyone in the room could hear what was going on. A few seconds later, Wendi's voice came through the speakers. "Peter? Peter."

Peter's voice responded, "Something wrong, Wendi?"

Wendi's voice said,"Just, uh, hitting some traffic. Why don't you take the dog to the vet."

Rafael shook his head. She _knew_. _They knew_. That much was obvious especially after one phone clicked off and then the other. "Tell me what got a location on her phone," Rafael said gruffy, folding his arms across his chest.

"The South Shore, Staten Island," JJ stated, tucking a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "That's all we got before the phone powered down. The signal's lost."

Rafael slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding. "Tell Benson and Amaro not to lose Wendi. She's our only link to Peter now."

"Already on it," Rollins stated with her cell phone pressed against her ear.

He nodded his head and shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing around the room. Both JJ and Rollins appeared to jump into action. He didn't want to be a hindrance, especially not with a teenage girl on the line. 'I'll-uh, just get going. Keep me in loop," he said.

JJ, who was also on the phone, nodded her head and waved her hand goodbye to him. He nodded his head in return and walked out of the conference room. When he was a few steps into the hallway, he took a glance back through the window. JJ looked very focused. It was obvious that she was good at her job, but he couldn't help but wonder where she got her drive. He assumed it had something to do with _the reason_ , but that was all he knew. One thing was for certain, Jillian Jacobs was one puzzle he hadn't quite figured out yet.

Hours later after the sun had set, Rafael was once again alone in his office working. With his hands behind his head, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. He probably should head home soon. He hadn't left the office since he had returned after his trip to the 16th precinct which was hours ago. Truthfully, he was waiting for a phone call about Emily. He wanted to know if she was safe and if the bastard who orchestrated everything was in police custody. It was moments like that, where you knew you had helped save someone, that made everything worth it.

He closed his eyes for a moment when a knock came at his door. His eyes quickly opened to find JJ standing at the entrance to his office with a soft smile on her face. God, she looked beautiful. Even after what he assumed was a long few days on the job, she was still gorgeous. Not that he was going to say anything about _that_. Instead, he stood up and motioned for her to come inside.

"Kinda figured you'd still be here," JJ said softly.

"Am I that obvious?" Rafael chuckled as he motioned for her to take a seat on one of the chairs in front of him. She did.

JJ smiled again. "When it comes to your job, yeah, you are."

For a moment, he wanted to press the issue. What did she mean by _that_? Were there times when he did surprise her? He supposed that much was obvious. But instead of voicing his response, he nodded his head. Rafael then leaned forward and changed the subject. "Did you get the bastard?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah. That's why I dropped by. I wanted to tell you that we have Peter and Wendi, whose real name is Jane Karlreiss, in custody and Emily is safe with her family."

Rafael nodded his head. "That's good. Hopefully, Emily will be able to have a normal life now."

JJ sighed. "I hope so too, but she's never gonna forget what happened to her. No matter how hard she tries, it's always going to be a part of her. From now on, all her life choices will somehow be impacted by it and the sad part is that she might not even realize it until years later."

Her words hit him...hard. He had a feeling that they weren't just about Emily. Lightly, Rafael asked, "Are you speaking from experience."

Her gaze met his and her lips thinned as they pressed together. For a few moments, their eyes stayed on each other in silence, neither daring to look away. Then, she shrugged her shoulders and looked downward. "It's the truth, isn't it?"

Rafael sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so." He didn't want to cause her pain, but he wanted her to open up to him. He wanted her to share what weighed so heavily on her heart. Even though he didn't know much of anything about the situation, he knew that it bothered JJ and that bothered him. He didn't like seeing her in pain and that scared him. He couldn't remember ever feeling like _this_ about someone before.

JJ stood and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well, I just came to tell you how things turned out," she said somewhat awkwardly.

"You could have called," Rafael stated, arching an eyebrow curiously.

She sighed. "Yeah, I suppose I could have. I just... _didn't_." Her confession made him smile, but he wasn't entirely sure why. JJ glanced at him and cleared her throat. "Well, I'm gonna head out then." She turned on her heel and headed toward the door.

"JJ, hang on," Rafael said. JJ stopped and turned to look at him over her shoulder. "If you give me a minute, I'll walk out with you. I was gonna leave before you stopped by."

JJ eyed him curiously as they made eye contact. She sighed and leaned against the frame of the door. 'Yeah, ok."

Rafael packed up as quickly as he possibly could. He shoved papers into his briefcase and his laptop into it's case. Occasionally, he glanced over at JJ to see her watching him, but he couldn't gauge her expression. Was she amused? Was she annoyed? Dammit-he wanted to know.

Finally, he was ready to go. JJ waited for him as he locked his office before they walked to the elevator. As they stood in the elevator, Rafael pressed the button for the ground level. The sound of JJ's stomach grumbling filled the elevator. He smiled knowingly as she clutched her stomach. "You wouldn't by chance be hungry?" Rafael asked.

"Starving," JJ chuckled. "Vending machine food only gets me so far."

"Good, I haven't eaten either. I found this place a few blocks down that I think you'll like." He paused for a moment and looked at her. "That is, if you want to go."

JJ simply nodded her head. Rafael nodded his head back in response. The elevator dinged and they walked to the restaurant together. Neither aware that it was the start of something more.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Annnndddd here's another chapter! :) In case you couldn't tell, this chapter was more from Rafael's perspective. Thanks again, Renny Autumn for the idea. ;) Thanks to all of you who had read/reviewed/followed/favorited! Wow! I am still floored by the response ya'll give me! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all your kindness and support! It means the world to me!**

* * *

 **Superpsychonatural:** D'awwww! Thank you! You got more Jarba goodness this chapter too! :)

 **WaitingForTheLights:** Thank you! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! I hope you liked this one as well! :)

 **Hidden Journey:** AHHHHH! I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE LIKING THEM, HOPEFULLY AS MUCH AS I ENJOY WRITING THEM. (I WROTE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE YOU DID. HAHA)

 **Wayward Jules:** Yay! We still have a bit before they get together, but they are getting there.

 **Hoqwaarts:** D'aww! Thanks, friend! You got even MORE Jarba this chapter!

 **Patrickvrona:** Sorry this one took so long to get out! Been very busy, but I hope it was still enjoyable! :)

 **Tooclosefortety:** I'm glad that I was able to update close to your birthday! Sorry it's been so long! (Life was very busy. haha) I'm glad you enjoyed all the Rafael/JJ scenes last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! :)

 **Slow Dancing in the Snow;** D'awwww! You're too sweet, Ani! Haha. There was more Jarba this chapter too, friend! Your compliments are so nice! Thank you! I think we all want them to get together already! But they're slowly getting there! Haha.

 **CurseYouTinyToilet:** Thank you!

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 **Moonslusth:** I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope this one was enjoyable too! :) D'awwww-wishing JJ was canon is like the highest compliment an author can get! Thank you! That made me smile.

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 **Belongtonoman:** D'awwww! Thank you for appreciating my story! Your complimentary review was perfect! Your words were perfect! Thanks! :)

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 **Guest (1):** Thanks!

 **RHatch89:** Thank you for all your support! :) I truly appreciate it, friend!

 **Nixdragon:** Well, I just made a sandwich artist who hates them *cough cough* haha.

 **Fantasy.92:** D'awww! I'm flattered you chose my little story to read! :) All things will be revealed with time, my friend! ;)

 **Werewitchling;** Hahah! I ship them so hard too! It's kinda scary how much I ship them (especially since I'm supposed to because I'm the author lol)

 **Guest (2):** I'm glad you enjoyed the last update! Hope you like this one too! :)

 **Guest (3):** Thanks!

 **SarcaticEnigma:** Hello friend! It's all good! :) I know you got my back, even if fanfiction is determined to tear us apart. ;) haha. Thank you so much for the compliments in your review! Your review was something every author loves to hear! So, thank you! :)

 **Thelandofstories:** Thanks!

 **Saige Marie:** Haha-yeah, they only kinda like each other. ;) Thanks for your reviews!

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 **S0ME0NE LIKE Y0U:** Thanks!

 **Guest (4) a.k.a. Renny Autumn:** Wellllll...it might be a little bit before that happens! Haha. But it will! (Unless I purposely stop just to spite you...muah hahahah {not that I could actually do that, but the threat exists. haha}) And now you know what's he's thinking!

 **Notaboutcat:** When I got your review, it literally made my day! I wasn't expecting it (and I was in a movie) and then I was like *gasp* haha. I always love when a friend reads my stuff-so thanks! And right? Barba is my new fave too! I didn't think i was going to like him at first...but dangit! Haha.

 **AriellaBlake:** I've kinda already told you this, but your review was so sweet and complimentary! Getting it made my day! You're super sweet, my friend! :) I'm so glad that you're enjoying JJ. She's kinda like me...but much more badass! Haha. I'm glad you "get" her relationship with Barba. Granted, it will kinda seem like they're moving kinda fast, but there are passages of time between Barba episodes! Lol. So, thank you SO much for your support, friend! :)

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 _Also, there's a new JJ/Barba video on my page (and youtube) "Never Stop" the link is toward the end of my profile. Hope ya'll like it! Thanks for everything! :)_


	5. Lessons Learned I

**Chapter 5: 14x08: Lessons Learned Pt. 1**

* * *

It had been a long day and JJ was ready to escape the madness. The 16th Precinct had been an absolute zoo that evening and she was ready to veg-out on the couch. JJ unlocked her apartment and stepped inside to find the place a little messier than it probably should have been. She wasn't the best housekeeper, but the motto she lived by was painted on a wall hanging near the kitchen. _My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy_. While she wasn't sure that she was _happy_ , she was healthy...so, JJ figured that she was close enough.

Locking the door behind her, JJ quickly changed out of her work attire and into her comfy clothes: baggy grey sweatpants and an oversized Harvard t-shirt. As she threw her hair up into a messy bun, JJ glanced at the mail that had begun to stack up on the kitchen counter. As each year passed, she never fully felt like she had this adulting thing under control. Just when she finally managed to be able to keep up with one aspect of adulting, it seemed like another one slipped away from her. Adulting. Ugh.

JJ thumbed through the stack of mail. Since she paid most of her bills online almost all of the mail in front of her was junk mail. Junk. Junk. For a moment, JJ stopped as a magazine addressed to Mrs. Jenkins stared at her. Millionaire Theodore "Ted" Williams graced the cover. Absently, her hand reached up and her fingers twirled around her necklace chain. There was a knock on the door. JJ quickly flipped the magazine over and headed for the door, her bare feet padding against the hardwood floor.

"Who is it?" JJ called, somewhat suspiciously. She never had visitors. Especially at this time of night.

"It's Amanda," the voice called from the other side. "I figured I couldn't be the only one in need of a drink tonight."

Glancing through the peephole on her door, JJ found that it was Amanda on the other side of the door. After unlocking the several locks on the door, she opened the door and stuck her head out. "How'd you get in the building?" JJ asked.

"I followed Mrs. Jenkins in. Now can I come in before I drop this pizza?" Amanda shifted her stance to show the pizza she held in one hand, tucked up against her hip.

JJ smiled. "You should've started with the pizza. You know I can't resist a good pizza."

Amanda rolled her eyes as JJ finally let her in. JJ shut and locked the door before she quickly pushed past Amanda to make room on the counter for the pizza box. She shoved the mail over, but the magazine slipped to the floor. Amanda set the pizza and beer down before she bent over to pick up the magazine. "You stealing Mrs. Jenkins' mail again?" Amanda teased holding the magazine up for JJ to see. This time it was JJ who rolled her eyes as Amanda placed the magazine back on the counter. "Talk about a silver fox," Amanda said glancing at the man on the cover of the magazine.

JJ said nothing as she played once more with her necklace. But she quickly dropped her necklace when Amanda looked up because Amanda knew that was one of her tells. JJ cleared her throat. "Are-uh-paper plates okay?"

Amanda nodded her head as JJ turned and reached into one of the upper cabinets for the paper plates. "Crazy night tonight, huh?" Amanda said as JJ set the paper plates down and opened the pizza box. It was a chicken fajita pizza. One of JJ's favorites. JJ quickly dished herself some pizza before she walked over and sat down on the couch.

"Finally," JJ groaned as she threw her head back and closed her eyes for a moment. Pizza, beer, and some relaxation was exactly what she needed before she went back at it again tomorrow. Amanda walked over and sat beside her friend with pizza and beer in hand. JJ turned the TV on and tossed the remote over to Amanda. "I don't really care what we watch."

Amanda gladly accepted the remote and began flipping through the channels. "So, I went out for a walk yesterday night. You'll never guess who I saw."

"Who?" JJ asked as she took a bite of pizza. "But I swear to god if this is another story about how you saw Harry Potter again I'm going to slap you."

"He has a name, you know." JJ waved Amanda off dismissively, causing Amanda to roll her eyes. "His name is Daniel Radcliffe," Amanda groaned. "But no. I saw something even better and believe me, Daniel Radcliffe is hard to top."

JJ looked surprised by Amanda's response. She nudged her friend. "Spill."

"You...with Barba," Amanda said with a smirk. "On a date."

JJ coughed up the bite of pizza she had just eaten. "It wasn't a date," she argued before quickly taking a sip of her beer. She had been out with Rafael for the last two nights. But in her defense, one time was dinner after she had told him how Emily's case had ended up. The other time was planned, but it was just dinner. That was it. Neither was anything close to what she would qualify as a date.

Amanda arched an eyebrow suspiciously "Right. Then what was it?"

"We just...accidentally ran into each other…" JJ started before she finished in a mutter, " _On purpose_."

Amanda laughed and shook her head. "Honey, that's called a date."

"You've been itching to ask me about that all day, haven't you?" JJ asked rather pointedly. Amanda shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of pizza. JJ groaned. "Ra-Barba and I are just friends and that's even stretching it."

Amanda looked at JJ, whose face was blushing pink. "If that's your story."

"It is," JJ responded before she took another swig of her beer. "Now please, can we just enjoy some mind-numbing television? I think we deserve it after the night we've had."

Wisely, Amanda said nothing more on the subject of Rafael Barba.

* * *

The next afternoon, JJ sat at her desk filling out her backlog on paperwork. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She needed a caffeine fix...badly. Although, it was her own fault. She had chosen to not go to Starbucks that morning after Amanda's comments about Barba last night. She didn't want to add more fuel to the fire. So, instead, she opted for the crap Nick called coffee that he made for the station, big mistake.

JJ mentally kicked herself for letting Amanda get to her. She was a grown-ass adult. It shouldn't matter who she spent her time with or who she was seen with. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter, but sometimes people never got past high school. Not that she was blaming Amanda. She was blaming herself that _she_ hadn't gotten over such things yet. Not that she thought of him in that sense.

"Gah!" JJ growled aloud, clearly frustrated by her thoughts.

"That'll teach ya," Munch chuckled from the desk across from her. "Don't procrastinate that paperwork."

JJ rolled her eyes at Munch, which only made him laugh more.

"Hey!" Munch shot back. "You don't see _me_ with that problem." Munch kicked his feet up onto his desk and leaned back in his chair.

"Because I'm doing yours too!" JJ argued, looking at him pointedly. She didn't really mind helping Munch out with the paperwork. Despite his many years on the job, she was better at the paperwork. But it wasn't the paperwork that was bothering her. It was the fact that her mind was just on other things, like Rafael Barba, but it wasn't like she could explain to Munch that her thoughts were focused on the new A.D.A.

Thankfully, Liv came over and told her and Munch to join the rest of them to go over a case. Anything to free her mind from thoughts of Rafael Barba, JJ was all for it. JJ practically ran from her desk to the conference table. Munch watched her, highly amused by her actions. He knew something was going on, but he also knew JJ would tell him when she was ready. Munch knew better than to push JJ when she wasn't ready. That always ended badly for everyone involved.

JJ on the table beside Fin. Munch shook his head before he gestured to the chair he was about to sit one. "You both know there are these new fangled things called chairs, right? You know, so we don't get sweaty ass marks on the table."

Fin and JJ looked at each other and shrugged, opting to remain on the table. Munch muttered something to himself about younger generations before he pushed in his chair and sat on the table with Fin and JJ, despite his protests moments before. JJ and Fin exchanged brief smiles at the old man's antics. Amanda stood beside Fin with her arms folded across her chest, waiting for Nick and Liv to fill them in on the situation.

"What's going on?" JJ asked, thankful for a distraction from her thoughts of Barba. She leaned backward, resting her hands on the table behind her.

"Harold Lassiter," Nick said pointing to a headshot of an old guy pinned to the bulletin board. "Taught at Manor Hill Academy for over 30 years. Retired in '02."

JJ momentarily froze and swallowed hard at the mention of Manor Hill. It was a school she was all too familiar with. JJ closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She could practically see the school's paraphernalia hanging from the wood panel walls seared into her mind. She could vividly see a black and white class photo hung next to a crimson banner.

As Nick continued to talk, her head started to pound. She opened her eyes to try to pay attention to what Nick and Liv were telling them, but she found it rather hard to concentrate. It was like there was something blocking her vision of the information on the board. JJ blinked several times rapidly trying to clear it, but it didn't work. She rubbed her eyes, thinking it was a piece of dust, but that didn't help either.

JJ closed her eyes for a few seconds. She opened them only to find a zigzag impairing her vision in one of her eyes. She quickly shut her eyes once more. Thankfully, she had experienced ocular migraines before, otherwise, she would have thought she was about to die. She didn't get them often, but for her, they were usually a precursor to a full-blown migraine headache.

Without saying a word, JJ stumbled back to her desk and opened the bottom drawer of her desk and dug out her purse. She pulled out her sunglasses and shoved them on her face. It was too bright in the bullpen. She then continued to dig in her purse until she found the small bottle of Excedrin Migraine she kept in one of the pockets. She put the pill in her mouth and swallowed with a swig of coffee from the cup on her desk. JJ stayed on her knees for a few moments until she felt a shoulder on her hand.

She turned her head to see who it was. Big mistake. Pain shot up and down her neck and head. JJ's hand grabbed her neck as Amanda got down on her haunches beside her. "Jage? You okay?"

"Ocular migraine," JJ muttered.

Amanda chewed her lip and nodded her head. She rubbed JJ's back gently. "How about Fin and I drop you off at home before we head across town?"

JJ shook her head. "I have sunglasses. I'll just ask Cragen if I can work in an interrogation room with the lights off. I'll be fine."

"You're not fine," Amanda chuckled. "Far from it. Go home. You have plenty of sick time built-up."

"I'm saving it. And I worked through the last one. I'm fine. I will be fine."

"Jage, go home."

"Amanda, I said I'm fine."

"Doesn't look like it from where I'm standing," Munch said. JJ slowly looked up to see him standing tall above her. He stood there with his arms folded across his chest. He shook his head. "As your sergeant, I'm sending you home. That's an order."

"But we have a case," JJ argued, adjusting the sunglasses on her face to keep the light out of her eyes.

"We always have cases," Munch dead-panned before he continued. "It's a good thing the NYPD isn't solely dependent on your finely honed detective skills No offense, but you're of no use to us like this. You're going home. No arguing."

JJ groaned.

Munch patted her desk. "Come on, grab your purse. I'll drive you home. I'm taking my lunch."

JJ's brow furrowed. "It's 10 a.m."

"Yeah? So?" Munch shrugged his shoulders before he reached a hand down to help JJ up. She accepted his hand and slowly rose to her feet. It felt like the world was spinning a bit, but Munch steadied her with his hand.

"Fin and I can take her," Amanda offered. "It's on our way there."

Munch held his hand up. "Rollins, I got this. She's my partner and you and yours need to head go see Fin's friend." Amanda didn't argue with him. She patted JJ's shoulder and told her to feel better before she walked out of the precinct with Fin. Munch looked at JJ. "Let me go give Cragen a heads-up really quick."

After Munch came back, he walked JJ to the car. It was a good thing too. It was very bright and it would have taken JJ far longer to find it if she hadn't been clinging to his arm. He opened the car door for her and she hopped in as he made his way to the driver's side.

The entire ride to JJ's apartment was silent. Neither one of them spoke. JJ just rested her head against the window and closed her eyes, the full-blown migraine already beginning to take effect. After a car ride that seemed like an eternity and having to drive around the block three times, Munch finally pulled up outside JJ's apartment.

"Thank you," JJ mumbled as she reached for the door handle, but Munch clicked the lock button. Groaning, JJ rubbed her neck and turned toward him. "What the hell?"

Munch tapped the steering wheel several times before he rested his elbow on it and turned toward her. "I know you think I'm old and senile, but I could have sworn you said that stress is usually a trigger for your migraines."

JJ nodded her head. "Yeah, last night was a zoo. You know how the job gets. Things get stressful. I should have been more proactive about things. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." She squinted at him from beneath her sunglasses.

Munch nodded his head. "I also think that a few days ago I read in the paper that Ted Williams gave a rather generous donation to a fancy schmancy boarding school. What was it again? Manor Hill Academy?"

JJ swallowed hard. Munch knew. He was the only one at work that knew the complete truth. He had told her day one that they had to trust each other with their lives. And that he would be there to keep her from doing something stupid. No secrets. Even Amanda didn't know the complete truth. She knew everything else, except for that one minor detail.

JJ rubbed her head and wiped the sweat from beneath her sunglasses. "I'm not sure how those two things relate," JJ mumbled.

Munch looked at her pointedly. "You know perfectly well how they relate, JJ."

"Munch, I have a migraine, so I'd rather not have this conversation now."

He nodded his head. "Just let me say this," he said rather softly. "If this in any way comes back to him, you gotta recuse yourself. You understand me?"

"I studied law at Harvard and work in law enforcement. I think I know when I gotta recuse."

"I mean it, JJ."

JJ sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. If it comes to that, I'll do what I have to."

"Good girl." Munch patted her shoulder. "Now get your ass out of my car. I wasn't joking when I said I was taking my lunch."

She would have chuckled, but that would make her head hurt worse. So instead, she tightly clutched her purse as she exited Munch's car and made her way up the steps to her apartment building. She then had to climb the stairs because the elevator was out again. After several flights of stairs, JJ stood outside her apartment fishing through her purse to find her keys. When she had finally managed to find her keys Mrs. Jenkins poked her head out her door across the hall.

"JJ, is that you? What are you doing home at this time?" she called.

JJ turned around and tried to offer Mrs. Jenkins a smile, but it hurt her head to do so. Her neighbor meant well, despite the fact that she was probably the nosiest person in the building. Mrs. Jenkins just stared at her expecting an answer. "I have a migraine, Mrs. Jenkins," JJ offered.

Mrs. Jenkins tutted. "It's all the crap they're putting in food these days. The government is letting them kill us. Back in the old days, everyone grew their own food and we didn't have all these problems…"

JJ just stood there, gripping her door handle to keep her upright as Mrs. Jenkins went on another one of her tirades. She tried to remind herself that the woman meant well, but the sound of the woman's voice felt like nails on a chalkboard right now. JJ closed her eyes and stood there hoping it would end soon.

"JJ?" the woman snapped.

"Sorry, what?"

"You didn't happen to get my mail again, did you? I've been waiting for the latest edition of my magazine. There's an article about Ted Williams I was looking forward to reading. I met him once you know. He was just the sweetest thing. And handsome too…"

JJ could feel the pounding in her head begin to intensify. With one hand, she reached up and tried to massage one of her temples.

"So did you?"

"Yeah, I got it. I'll go get it." Fumbling to get her keys to unlock the door, JJ finally managed to open it and slipped inside. She walked to the counter to grab the magazine. If she didn't, Mrs. Jenkins would be pounding on her door any second and wouldn't go away until she got it. Although, JJ was rather thankful to be rid of the magazine with Ted William's face on it.

Going back to her door, JJ handed Mrs. Jenkins her magazine. The older woman was about to go on about Ted again, but JJ held up her hand. "Mrs. Jenkins, I would love to keep talking but…"

Mrs. Jenkins frowned. "That's right, your poor head. You feel better, now. If you need anything just give me a holler. I'm not going anywhere today, honey."

JJ offered the woman a genuine smile before she shut her door and locked it behind her. The woman really did mean well. JJ pulled the ponytail out of her hair and massaged her head as she kicked her shoes off, not really caring where they went. She could find them later. She then crossed the room to find her pajamas she had shoved under her pillow. After pulling on a baggy Harvard t-shirt and a pair of PJ shorts, JJ closed the curtains on her window and collapsed onto her bed, still wearing her sunglasses. While her head throbbed with pain, it wasn't long until sleep found her.

Hours later, JJ awoke to the sound of her phone buzzing and chiming. She groaned and mentally kicked herself for having forgotten to silence her phone. Getting out of bed, she stumbled to the kitchen counter and pulled her phone out of her purse. Thankfully, she could read once again. The ocular part of the migraine had only been about thirty minutes. But she was surprised to see who had texted her.

BARBA: _Dinner? I was thinking sushi._

JJ chewed her lip. He was probably going to think that she was avoiding him no matter what, especially since she hadn't gotten coffee this morning. Although, she was rather grateful that she had an excuse not to see him. So, she texted back.

JJ: _Can't._ _Migraine. Sorry._

She set her phone back down on the counter and walked back to her bed. She flopped onto the bed and had just gotten comfortable when her phone chimed again. "You've got to be kidding me," JJ muttered. She was going to let it slide, but honestly, she was too curious to see if it was Rafael texting her back. So, she got out of bed and made her way back to the counter once again. It was him...and despite her dull migraine, she found herself smiling...at least until she opened the text.

BARBA: _What's your address?_

Her brow furrowed. But she texted back.

JJ: _Why?_

This time when JJ went back to her bed, she took her phone with her. She had just flopped onto her bed when her phone chimed.

BARBA: _Just give me your damn address, JJ._

Thirty seconds later.

BARBA: _Please? :)_

JJ was surprised to see the smiling emoticon after his please. Her intuition told her that he was probably going to stop by. Normally, she wouldn't let anyone over under the circumstances, but he was probably going to bring her food...which she didn't have anything that didn't require extensive cooking. She had eaten the last slice of pizza for breakfast. Everything else required cooking, which she was in no mood for. So, she took a risk and texted him her address. She then dropped her head on the pillow and fell back asleep.

The sound of her buzzer woke her up once again. She slowly got up and it buzzed again. "Good grief," she muttered as she crossed her apartment. It buzzed again as she was about to press the button to talk to the person. She rolled her eyes beneath her sunglasses and pressed the button. "Hello?"

"It's me," a voice that sounded an awful lot like Rafael Barba's spoke.

She smiled slightly before she responded. "I don't recall knowing any me's."

"Funny. Really funny."

JJ chewed her lip. "Did you bring me food?"

"Yeah, I read somewhere that caffeine and greasy food, while they can cause a migraine, are also good for curing it. I stopped at this burger place."

JJ thought she had released the button when she said, "Thank, God." Then she heard him chuckle.

"I didn't know you thought of me so highly. I usually go by Rafael though."

"You're an ass."

"You'd better watch it. I can take this food back. Well, actually, I probably can't. But I can just go and eat it myself."

She didn't respond.

"Alright then, I'm leaving."

"No!" JJ shouted. He didn't say anything back. After several moments of agonizing silence, JJ said, "I take it all back. I didn't mean any of it. I have a migraine, so I don't think before I say crap. Just bring me my food. Please?"

There was another long silence, but then a new voice said, "I don't have any food on me, but I can go pick some up. What do you want?"

JJ's brow furrowed. He had left. She had been mean to him and he had left her. She leaned her back against the front door and folded her arms across her chest. She chewed her lip. She hadn't meant to piss him off to the point of making him leave. JJ wasn't entirely sure why she kept pushing him away. It seemed like for every step forward they took, JJ was pushing them two steps back. Tears stung at her eyes and it didn't help matters that her head still hurt. Everything seemed to be going wrong today.

There was a soft knock on her door and it startled her. "Who is it?" JJ asked.

"Who else do you think it would be?" Rafael's voice said. "Is there someone else I should know of bringing you food?"

"How did you get in?"

"Some guy named Juan let me in. We're homies now." His tone didn't falter, that it was hard to tell if he was joking or not. "So, are you gonna open the door or are you gonna make me stand out here and shout at you?"

JJ slowly opened the door. The hallways light was bright and she slightly recoiled. That made Rafael laugh. "I see you weren't kidding about the migraine," Rafael said.

JJ's brow furrowed. "What gave me away?"

He smiled and pointed at her. "Most people don't wear sunglasses in a completely darkened apartment."

"Maybe I'm just weird like that."

"Maybe, but I don't think so." He smiled again. JJ's heart fluttered. She hated that something as simple as a smile from him could make her react in such a manner. He then extended a brown paper bag toward her and a styrofoam cup with a straw. "Cheeseburger, fries, and that should be a Coke. I didn't try it to verify."

JJ gave him a half smile as she accepted the food and soda. "Thank you," she said. "I-I really appreciate you taking the time to do this."

He just shrugged. 'It's what friends are supposed to do, right?"

Her heart sank a bit. Friends. That was what they were, but she wasn't sure why she was so disappointed by the sound of that word from him. JJ just nodded her head before she took a sip of the Coke. He smiled at her and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Thanks again," she said.

"Yeah." He sighed and rocked back on his heels.

JJ leaned her head against the door. The pair stood there for nearly a minute, neither sure of what to say to the other or how they were to proceed. So, they stood there awkwardly in the hallway until the sound Rafael's phone buzzing interrupted their silence. He pulled out his phone and rejected the call.

"I-uh-should probably let you eat then," Rafael said.

JJ just nodded her head. He gave her a soft smile. "Feel better, JJ."

"Thanks," she said giving him a small smile back. "And for this too." she shook the bag.

Rafael nodded his head. He extended his arm and waved at her. "I'll be seeing you, JJ."

JJ waved back at him and watched as he walked away. She watched him as he walked down the hallway and stopped at the stairs. He looked back and waved at her once more. She waved back again before he disappeared down the stairwell. JJ then closed her door behind her and locked it. She sighed and took another sip of the Coke. Things were definitely starting to get complicated with Rafael Barba.

* * *

 **Author's Note: About time, huh? Sorry, things have been kinda crazy since I last updated. Like things got back in my job, I then accepted another job, moved 2,000 miles, had some health issues, lost my grandpa...you know, the usual? I never forgot about this story. I was just stuck. But here I am. It's a bit shorter but much more manageable to plunk out. Hope you enjoyed it!**

 **To those who reviewed last chapter, you rock! I'd list y'all but it's been forever since I updated, so I'd feel kinda weird about it. Just know that I appreciated your reviews! :)**


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